Dead juvenile humpback whale in Corolla had broken bones suggesting ‘blunt force trauma’

The dead humpback whale first reported in the Atlantic Ocean by Corolla on Thursday, April 10, is pictured after it was pulled onto dry beach for a necropsy exam on Friday, April 11, 2025. (Photo courtesy Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network)

By Corinne Saunders

COROLLA — A dead juvenile female humpback whale that washed up in Corolla just north of Shad Street was discovered to have broken bones suggesting the whale suffered “blunt force trauma,” a necropsy performed Friday found.

“The team found three fractured cervical vertebrae from the neck region with associated hemorrhaging at the site suggestive of blunt force trauma,” Outer Banks (OBX) Marine Mammal Stranding Network Coordinator Marina Piscitelli-Doshkov said in a prepared statement on Monday.

“In addition, they found healed fishery interaction scars from a previous entanglement,” she said.

Several samples and a few cervical vertebrae were taken to help scientists determine the cause of death, but results can take a year.

“It takes up to one year to get the report back of the histopathology,” Daryl Law, communications manager for Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head, said on Monday.

The humpback whale measured 33 feet, 7 inches long and weighed roughly 60,000 pounds. Most of the whale’s organs were “heavily decomposed,” Piscitelli-Doshkov’s statement said.

Law noted that the advanced state of decomposition made for smelly work, and “we had a lot of places where predatory animals—probably sharks—had taken bites out of it.”

The OBX Marine Mammal Stranding Network team performed an external exam and necropsy Friday in “soggy” conditions, as it rained on and off that day, he said.

“N.C. Aquariums personnel and marine mammals stranding specialists Marina Doshkov, Vicky Thayer and Jill Sullivan along with several volunteers preformed the necropsy with assistance from Karen Clark of the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission and personnel from the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response team,” a Monday press release from Jennette’s Pier said.

The dead humpback whale first reported off Corolla on Thursday, April 10, 2025, is seen in the surf zone. (Photo courtesy Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network)

The dead whale was first sighted in the surf zone on Thursday. Members of the OBX Marine Mammal Stranding Network responded, recording basic information about the whale and taking scientific photographs, according to a Friday morning press release from Jennette’s Pier.

“If the conditions allow, a team from Currituck County Public Works plans to pull the animal up higher on the beach berm so scientists can perform an external exam and necropsy today,” Friday’s release said.

Law confirmed Monday morning that the county’s team used an excavator to pull the whale up onto dry sand, and then buried it onsite following Friday’s necropsy.

Vicky Thayer (left), North Carolina’s Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator, on Friday, April 11, 2025, measures the deceased humpback whale that washed in north of Shad Street in Corolla last Thursday. Marina Doshkov (center) photographs the animal for future study while a team from the Virginia Aquarium looks on. (Photo courtesy Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network)

At least sixth whale in less than five months

This is at least the sixth whale to wash up along the Outer Banks since December.

The first whale to wash up was another dead female juvenile humpback, but in Kitty Hawk on Dec. 27, 2024—as Outer Banks Insider reported from the scene.

On Jan. 24, a dead adult male dwarf sperm whale washed up on the beach in Carova near the Virginia state line.

In February, two dead whales washed up on southern stretches of the Outer Banks, according to Law: A humpback whale on Pea Island on Feb. 4 and a sperm whale near Coquina Beach on Bodie Island on Feb. 18.

Two whales washed up on Cape Hatteras National Seashore areas managed by the National Park Service, according to spokesperson Mike Barber.

A pygmy sperm whale calf washed up Jan. 7 in Buxton, with necropsy results inconclusive but listing “presumptive maternal separation possibly due to adverse weather conditions,” Barber said.

A sperm whale calf washed up on Bodie Island on Feb. 12, and “reactive lymph nodes suggest possible infectious processes, presumptive maternal separation,” he said.

Barber said he suspected the whale listed for Feb. 18 in the pier’s database was the same whale the park service found on Feb. 12.

To report a dead or distressed marine mammal—such as seals, whales, dolphins or manatees—people can call the OBX Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 252-455-9654. For sightings within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, call 252-216-6892.

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Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 5:35 p.m. on Monday, April 14, 2025, to reflect responses from the National Park Service. Did you appreciate Outer Banks Insider’s ad-free local news? Subscribe today at this link to access all our in-depth, exclusive reporting, and to support independent local news in the area you love.