Officials from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center were called to a beach in Middle Township in Cape May County on Sunday after they received reports that a dead manatee had washed ashore.

Jay Pagel of the MMSC said

Generally with these guys, especially up in this area, if we find them deceased, it’s somehow associated with the cold water. It’s quite possible this could be related to climate change.

 

The manatee, clocking in at about 11 feet and 900 pounds, seems to have been dead for about a month. Manatees do occasionally make their way up the coast from Florida, but if it's really been dead for that long, it will be much harder to determine how it came to wash up in New Jersey.

[via NJ.com]

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