Virginia Aquarium Stranded Response Team on site of stranded whale

Members of the Virginia Aquarium’s Stranded Response team are on site investigating a deceased while that washed ashore at the mouth of Plantation Creek near Bay Creek sometime Friday. The aquarium was informed of the whale Saturday morning.

Caryl Thompson, the Chief Operating Officer of the Virginia Aquarium, said from the pictures the whale looks to be in poor condition and likely has been dead quite a while.

“It likely won’t be conducive to conduct a necropsy, given the condition of the animal,” Thompson said in a phone interview. “Moving the animal would also be difficult, so most likely we will leave the whale as is on site.”

Members of the team will collect samples to try and determine the cause of death. Pictures didn’t indicate any obvious signs of boat strikes or entanglements. The animal’s organs will likely not be in great shape to examine.

Thompson didn’t speculate as to what could have caused the whale to die. She did confirm this was the third whale their team has investigated since the start of the year. One was found off Craney Island in Portsmouth in January and another was found Wednesday near Lynnhaven. Samples have been sent off for examination for both, but they were also in a state of decomposition that made it difficult to examine.

If you see a whale, dolphin or sea turtle that isn’t where it’s supposed to be or that looks sick, please call the Virginia Aquarium’s Stranded Response Team Hotline at 757-387-7575.