CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — Marine wildlife officials are trying to determine what has caused three whales to die along the Virginia/North Carolina coast in the space of a week.
Currituck County Fire and EMS confirmed that a Minke whale washed ashore Tuesday afternoon on a four-wheel drive beach. A local found it and reported it to authorities between 4:30 and 5 p.m. A necropsy was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, but Currituck County Fire and EMS officials said the whale floated back out to sea overnight. They expect it to wash on shore again eventually farther south.
This makes the third beached whale since Sunday.
The mystery began when a humpback whale washed ashore at the oceanfront Sunday in Virginia Beach near 25th Street. Another humpback was found Monday at False Cape State Park close to the North Carolina border. It’s a mystery that is both disheartening and fascinating to people we spoke with.
“It’s really unfortunate and we should probably figure out what’s going on and try to prevent it,” Shantel Schalch said.
“I’ve lived in Virginia my whole life and I’ve never seen this happen,” Thomas Ciccone said. “So it is kind of a shock to the rest of us that live here in Virginia.”
“I think it’s amazing, I’ve never seen anything like that before and I wonder why they’re washing up on shore,” Raphael Godette added. “It’s different, I’ve never seen anything like that. Being from Michigan we don’t have whales.”
Officials are still waiting for the necropsy results for the first two whales.
