60-foot Fin Whale dead in Ocean City, N. J. *7 Photo's*

The marine mammal is dead and decomposing at Seventh Street.

By Douglas Bergen

January 23, 2012

Officials from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center have confirmed that a whale that washed ashore earlier today on the Seventh Street beach is dead.

View more videos at: nbcphiladelphia.com.

“It’s a very dead and badly decomposing whale that wshed ashore” said Sheila Dean, co-director of the center in Brigantine.

Mainland Regional HIgh School students Kristie Sepulueda, Kennedy Goldthorp and Jessica Duirek heard about the beached whale through Twitter and drove to Ocean City to check out the scene after their mid-terms. Credit: Douglas Bergen

The whale, roughly 60 – feet long, is either of the minke or fin species, Dean said. It’s impossible at this point to determine how or exactly when the whale died, she added.

Curious onlookers should stay away from the dead marine mammal, as gases are building up inside its body, which could cause the carcass to explode, according to Dean.

A whale is stranded in the shallow surf next to the Seventh Street jetty at 1 p.m. on Monday (Jan. 23).

A police officer on the scene said there were reports … continue reading …  and 7 Photo’s

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