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CHATHAM, Mass. (AP) — Two juvenile humpback whales have washed up on a Cape Cod island this week, and experts are not yet sure why.
The Cape Cod Times (http://bit.ly/2tB9nu1) reports that one whale was already dead when it was found on Monomoy Island on Wednesday. The second was in such poor shape that it had to be euthanized.
Brian Sharp, rescue manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, says there were no signs of a ship strike or a recent entanglement on the 27-foot animal found alive. It did have a heavy infestation of parasites that could lead to kidney failure.
Experts say two strandings so close together is unusual.
Federal officials recently started an investigation into an unusually high number of humpback deaths.
A humpback washed up dead in Rhode Island last week.
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Information from: Cape Cod (Mass.) Times, http://www.capecodtimes.com
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