A Dead Whale
Seaside Heights, New Jersey, March 2023
I received a text from a good friend letting me know a dead humpback whale had been spotted floating off the beach in Seaside Park. The next morning, he sent a follow up text to let me know it had washed up on shore. This was the 13th whale to wash up on shore in New York or New Jersey in the last three months.
I drove up toward the beach with my daughter to look for the inevitable gawking crowd I was intending to join. It turned out we could have walked. The dead whale had been dragged by a backhoe to the dunes near the end of the boardwalk, just south of Sawmill Pizza. The wide track it left in the sand allowed you to see where it had washed ashore. The police had taped off the area so no one could get too close. Most people looked on from the beach entrance at the high point of the dunes. A small and solemn crowd was gathered, with a couple members of the news media present.
I learned through the whispers of the crowd that the man being interviewed by the media was the mayor of Seaside Park. It smelled of dead whale, but not too rank. I'm sure the police who were on close guard duty were getting a nose full. As we were lingering, an anchor from CBS Philadelphia asked if I wouldn't mind being interviewed. I told him I would think about it while letting my daughter play on the beach for a bit first. I am definitely far more comfortable behind the camera than in front and I am also not a local and felt that someone else would probably be better suited. But maybe more so, the scene was weird and I didn't want my words to be misconstrued.
The frequency in which whales have been washing ashore is concerning and something my friend and I had been coincidentally talking about the day before. Particularly in regard to the bizarre politicization of the issue related to off-shore wind farms. The previous month our family was staying in Brigantine, New Jersey. A dead whale washed up on shore while we were there as well. Another event that the same friend also clued me in to. Soon after, a protest took place in the town against the off-shore wind farm preparation being done all along the Jersey coastline. Though the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has so far found no evidence connecting the whale deaths to the sonar used in preparing these wind farms, protesters blamed the work being done for the whales deaths, with no cited evidence.
Local lawmakers seem to fall along the expected party lines. Of course, on a national level, when the oil and gas industry was decimating the wetlands and wildlife of the Gulf Coast for decades, we didn’t hear a peep from conservative politicians. But when it comes to the installation of green energy projects that their party has been attempting to impede for years, the hearts of republicans everywhere are pouring out for the whales. The contradiction is more than suspect.
Green energy and the idea of disturbing the ocean views of some of the most expensive real estate in the country are issues long battled over. The same fight took place off of the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts when I was living there twenty years ago. Many of the same environmental arguments were made against the wind farms then. But the brass tacks was that wealthy people did not want their view of the ocean tarnished, no matter the environmental benefit to doing so. But the recent images of whale deaths in New Jersey have made the counterarguments to the massive wind farm project gain traction. The debate has begun to undermine the environmental benefit of this green energy source in the public consciousness.
Of the limited results I have read of whale autopsies from the other recently beached whales, the general conclusion was that they were likely struck by vessels. It is rare to look on the horizon at the Jersey Shore and not see a massive container ship passing along the coast. We Americans demand and buy a lot of crap. So vessel strikes seem very possible. Whales also occasionally die for all kinds of reasons and wash up on shore, it is not at all uncommon, though not usually at this unsettling frequency.
I am of the opinion that being reasonably skeptical of what the government is telling you is a healthy thing. And quite honestly, I do not see how it is possible to build such a large offshore project without some collateral damage to the environment. That is not a political statement, just logical and that should be an honest part of the conversation regarding green energy. Offshore oil-rig platforms, when they are not exploding, cause many of the same problems with none of the reduction in carbon emissions. That is the conversation to be had, which does not seem to be at the heart of this current debate.
I am no marine biologist, so can not say what is going on, but I am sure as hell these people protesting wind farms are not either. To admittedly judge a book by its cover, the crowds in attendance at these protests did not seem to be your typical tree-hugging environmental activists. These “save the whales” rallies seemed to be rooted in misinformation and exploiting terrible events for political purposes, with the deceased whales as props.
Looking out over the dead whale, now covered in sandbagged tarps, I began to overhear some similar talking points by those beside me in Seaside Heights.
I spoke with a few different people and learned the whale had been dragged to that spot so a truck could back down the nearby cement ramp and take it away. Other beached whales along the coast had been buried in the beaches they died at, but likely that was not an option in front of the crowded shore destination. The whole time I was imagining what a circus this event would have been if it had taken place in the full swing of summer. There would likely be a bunch of drunk idiots taking selfies with the dead whale.
After some time, the news anchor walked all the way down to where we were sitting by the water to ask again if we could be interviewed. This informed me that the friendly, soft-spoken news anchor may have been struggling to find willing participants among the less than friendly faces hanging around. I would not have been surprised if someone told him he was fake news. He seemed like a nice guy, so I felt bad and begrudgingly accepted to have our faces on camera in front of a dead whale and answer his questions. He jokingly said the hardest question would be spelling my name. I told him with my long Polish last name, he was actually correct.
It was brief. It went something like...why were we there? “A friend let me know about it and we were staying down the street.” How do you feel about the situation? “It is unfortunate the first whale my daughter sees washed up dead on the beach. I hope the scientific community figures out what is going on so we can end it, it is sad.” What do you hope will come out of this? “That people will engage with and be more conscious of their role in the environment.” What will you tell your daughter about this, years from now? “That hopefully something was done about it so it doesn't keep happening by that time. Hopefully we do something to make it better.” Is there anything I missed? “No.” Simple enough. My grammar was probably worse when speaking, with a couple of 'you knows' in there, but that was basically it.
I regretted doing the interview altogether afterwards. I felt I hadn't been clear and should have said something different. It felt very possible that my words could be used in the wrong way, relating to the political context of the event, exactly what I didn't want. Realistically, it will probably not be used at all or just a second of whatever clip they feel like including. But our daughter is objectively adorable, so maybe it will get some play.
Either way, what I wished I said was that I hope the scientific community does a better job of getting out in front of this issue and vocalizing what is happening, because in today's America, nothing is just a dead whale, it is a politically charged nightmare in the making. I understand that science takes time, but in that void, there is more than enough room for those with a political agenda to shape the narrative. It seems to have already happened.
We walked around the boardwalk a little. A man we spoke with for a minute blessed us, then began kneeling and said a prayer for the deceased whale. Though a dead whale off the boardwalk could be seemingly bad for business, I am sure more than a few spectators purchased themselves an impromptu slice of pizza or cheesesteak in the process. We headed back toward the dead whale. The crowd had changed over, with new sets of photographers, pod-casters and people talking about the offshore wind farm company.
The event was sad, but I was mostly annoyed. Instead of all of these people talking about how all of our demand for consumer goods and the resulting environmental disaster of the global shipping trade likely had a very real connection to this dead whale in front of them, it became continued unfounded talking points against green energy. It would seem this whale will have died in vain. But who knows, maybe all the reactionary talking points to wind farms will turn out to be true. But judging by the crowd, I have my sincere doubts.
Anyway...my 15 minutes of local news fame, squandered.
Either way, nobody wants to hear that the unnecessary things they buy are probably leading to the death of whales and other wildlife all over the world. Conspiracy theories are attractive for that reason, the truth is usually less desirable.
[*Acknowledgements to Amar “the Whale Watcher” Sharma. Always with the real-time cetacea info, especially while drinking in Malibu.]
It would seem the interview was used. My concerns about my words being misused were relieved. Instead they just came off as cliche' and corny. So much for contributing to the zeitgeist of the era. It also made me question if I sound that bummed out every time I open my mouth, because I am pretty sure I was just speaking in my normal tone and cadence.
Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/nyregion/east-coast-whale-deaths.html