Federal officials say humpback whales have been dying in unusually large numbers along the Atlantic Coast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries declared it an "unusual mortality event,'' which is called when higher-than-normal numbers of marine mammals die for unknown reasons, The News Journal reports. An agency spokeswoman says details will be provided Thursday.
Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute Executive Director Suzanne Thurman says a decomposing whale washed into shallow water in the Delaware Bay recently, but weather is hampering efforts to study it.
Thurman says it apparently was a juvenile humpback. If confirmed, it would be the fourth stranded in Delaware waters in a year, an unusually high number.
Four have stranded off Virginia and there was a stranding last fall off Long Island.
