Video: Baby Humpback Whale Sighted Off Point Pleasant Beach
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A baby humpback whale was spotted swimming along the coast of the Jersey Shore on Wednesday.
The whale was seen spotted in shallow water off of Point Pleasant beach, Ocean City and Island Beach State Park.
It's an unusual sight because whale-watchers usually have to pay to ride a boat to see whales off the New Jersey coast.
Out on Long Island, a female northern bottlenose whale was euthanized after becoming stranded off the shores of Long Beach.
A spokesman for the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation said the 14-foot whale was put down after an examination found it to be ailing.
A necropsy will be performed to help determine what caused the whale's true cause of death. Riverhead spokeswoman Rachel Bosworth says its demise could be from a variety of factors, including illness, ingestion of marine debris, or a ship strike.
A minke whale washed up along the shoreline of Robert Moses State Park on Long Island earlier this year. Officials determined that the whale was likely killed after being hit by a ship.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)