A dead whale spotted floating near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel earlier this week washed up on Butlers Bluff beach near Cape Charles, officials with the Virginia Aquarium confirmed Tuesday.
It’s not yet known how the approximately 6- to 8-year-old male humpback whale died, but its death marks the second humpback whale death in the lower Chesapeake Bay region in a week.
It is estimated that the whale is 35 feet long, according to Andy Dunton of the Virginia Marine Police.
Another deceased humpback surfaced on a beach near the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel on Feb. 2 with propeller wounds, according to WVEC-TV, Hampton.
With the help of a bulldozer provided by a local excavation company and a large tractor from a local farmer, officials with the Virginia Aquarium Stranded Response Team and the Virginia Marine Police were able to pull the whale from shallow waters as the tide rose around 5 p.m.
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SOURCE: USA Today; The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times, Hillary T. Chesson
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