August 6, 2025

Understanding Marine Mammals in the Barnegat Bay

by Nina Sassano

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The Barnegat Bay Partnership was saddened to see the interaction between a vessel and a Minke Whale in the bay. As unfortunate as the situation was, we would like to take the opportunity to share some information about Minke whales, responsible boating, and mindful interactions with wildlife.

About Minke Whales

Minke whales are a protected species, but not threatened or endangered. They are the smallest of the baleen whales and have several subspecies: the dwarf Minke whale (South Atlantic, South Pacific, Indian Ocean), the North Pacific Minke whale and the North Atlantic Minke whale. They are typically seen individually, although can sometimes be spotted in groups of 2-3, but rarely in a larger pod. 

They have a relatively global range, with mature adults spending more of their time in polar regions and younger whales and females being seen in more coastal, temperate waters. They reach maturity between 3-8 years old (at about a size of 23 feet) and have an estimated lifespan of around 50 years.

While Minke whales are rare visitors of the Barnegat Bay, they are known to approach boats in shallow water. This is not an invitation for an interaction, and it is your responsibility to not pursue, torment, or disrupt any behavioral patterns of the animal.

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The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

The Marine Mammal Protection Act was set into place to provide comprehensive protection for all marine mammals. The goal is to help protected species populations from becoming threatened, endangered, or extinct.

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This law states that:

1. Vessels must remain at least 100 yards from marine mammals, keeping motors off or on neutral.
2. No vessel shall “observe” an individual or group of marine mammals for more than 30 minutes at a time.
3. Do not harass the marine mammal.
a) Level 1 harassment is any act of pursuit, torment or annoyance that has the potential to injure the animal in the wild.
b) Level 2 harassment is disturbing (not but harming) a mammal by disrupting behavioral patterns including feeding, sheltering, or nursing.

If prosecuted, a vessel operator can face charges including loss of vessel, penalties of up to $36,498, one year in prison (imagine telling fellow prisoners why you’re locked up…) and an additional $25,000 in vessel forfeiture fees. 

NJ”s Marine Mammal Stranding Center

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center responded to the Minke Whale strike in the Barnegat Bay last weekend. This center is the only federally authorized rescue, rehabilitation, and release facility for marine mammals and authorized first responders in New Jersey. Their team responded to the incident, initiated the necropsy, and will continue to provide updates and information as it becomes available.

In the meantime, this is a good reminder for boaters to check in on rules and regulations, and to practice responsible captaining through our coastal areas. You never know what you may find, and being a good captain means being ready for anything.

Explore More Insights from Barnegat Bay

Dive deeper into the ongoing efforts to protect and restore our environment with more updates and initiatives that you can take part in. Check out our latest blog posts for valuable tips and insights.

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UNKNOWN

There is limited data available to quantify Wetland and Riparian Buffer Preservation, or updated data to quantify Wetland Acreage. The BBP has obtained funding and will begin assessment efforts for both targets, in the next few years.

 

 Hard Clam abundance has not been updated since 2012. Recovery of the stock will be guided by the Fishery Management Plan for Hard Clams, which is under development with the NJDEP, BBP, and other organizations. Reclam the Bay and other partners have continued to plant clams for restoration purposes. Continued plantings in strategic locations which maximize survival and reproduction is one strategy to pursue in the coming years. This work can use a model developed by Rutgers with BBP funding which identified areas where planted clams could have the greatest dispersal of their larvae and thus potentially maximally contribute to the recovery of the stock.

 Water Withdrawals were over the target in the 2021 report; USGS has not yet completed its latest update, so a definitive determination of status is not available. However, additional NJDEP data show that it is likely that we continue to not meet the target. Per capita water use has gone down, demonstrating the effectiveness of water-saving appliances and practices, but that decrease has been offset by population gains. 


IN PROGRESS

New maps quantifying Submerged Aquatic Vegetation extent were developed, but poor image clarity resulted in a high degree of uncertainty in the total acreage. NJDEP and Rutgers are working to resolve the uncertainty of these maps, and improve the total acreage estimate. Funding has also been obtained for further research and restoration activities. Several groups are developing potential restoration actions.

The USGS has completed the first phase of its study to identify minimum ecological flows in select Barnegat Bay tributaries. USGS scientists compared streamflow statistics between historical and current time periods to better understand trends in watershed flow conditions. This work provides a foundation for developing ecological flow targets in the Barnegat Bay watershed.  Similar to SAV extent, funding (approximately $450K) has been obtained by the BBP to complete the remaining phases necessary for threshold determination.

 

TARGETS ACHIEVED

No targets can be considered “Achieved” at this time.

 

NOT ACHIEVING

Several Public Swimming Beaches exceeded their safe swimming standards more frequently than during their baseline time period (2016-2018).

While most beaches are routinely safe for swimming, several problematic areas such as Beachwood, Hancock, Windward, and several lake beaches need track-down studies and restoration to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

Acres of Approved Shellfish Waters decreased from the last report. While this decrease was small, it represents a loss of previously approved waters. Similar to public beaches, track-down studies and restoration work are needed to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

 

Understanding Marine Mammals in the Barnegat Bay

The Barnegat Bay Partnership was saddened to see the interaction between a vessel and a Minke Whale in the bay. As unfortunate as the situation was, we would like to take the opportunity to share some information about Minke whales, responsible boating, and mindful interactions with wildlife.

About Minke Whales

Minke whales are a protected species, but not threatened or endangered. They are the smallest of the baleen whales and have several subspecies: the dwarf Minke whale (South Atlantic, South Pacific, Indian Ocean), the North Pacific Minke whale and the North Atlantic Minke whale. They are typically seen individually, although can sometimes be spotted in groups of 2-3, but rarely in a larger pod. 

They have a relatively global range, with mature adults spending more of their time in polar regions and younger whales and females being seen in more coastal, temperate waters. They reach maturity between 3-8 years old (at about a size of 23 feet) and have an estimated lifespan of around 50 years.

While Minke whales are rare visitors of the Barnegat Bay, they are known to approach boats in shallow water. This is not an invitation for an interaction, and it is your responsibility to not pursue, torment, or disrupt any behavioral patterns of the animal.

00538493 1

The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

The Marine Mammal Protection Act was set into place to provide comprehensive protection for all marine mammals. The goal is to help protected species populations from becoming threatened, endangered, or extinct.

20200626 094538 1024x1820

This law states that:

1. Vessels must remain at least 100 yards from marine mammals, keeping motors off or on neutral.
2. No vessel shall “observe” an individual or group of marine mammals for more than 30 minutes at a time.
3. Do not harass the marine mammal.
a) Level 1 harassment is any act of pursuit, torment or annoyance that has the potential to injure the animal in the wild.
b) Level 2 harassment is disturbing (not but harming) a mammal by disrupting behavioral patterns including feeding, sheltering, or nursing.

If prosecuted, a vessel operator can face charges including loss of vessel, penalties of up to $36,498, one year in prison (imagine telling fellow prisoners why you’re locked up…) and an additional $25,000 in vessel forfeiture fees. 

NJ”s Marine Mammal Stranding Center

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center responded to the Minke Whale strike in the Barnegat Bay last weekend. This center is the only federally authorized rescue, rehabilitation, and release facility for marine mammals and authorized first responders in New Jersey. Their team responded to the incident, initiated the necropsy, and will continue to provide updates and information as it becomes available.

In the meantime, this is a good reminder for boaters to check in on rules and regulations, and to practice responsible captaining through our coastal areas. You never know what you may find, and being a good captain means being ready for anything.

Contact Understanding Marine Mammals in the Barnegat BayContact Understanding Marine Mammals in the Barnegat Bay
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