A third whale washed up on 80th Street at the Oceanfront this past weekend; the third whale death within a week. That morning the Virginia Beach Aquarium Stranding team showed up at the scene with heavy equipment to pull the whale on to shore for a necropsy.

Monday’s necropsy determined the same cause of death as the previous two whale necropsies, death by propeller strike.

Alex Costidis is the Coordinator for the Virginia Aquarium’s Stranding Response Program was there as the necropsy took place.

“Yes, this is sad and we don’t want to see any dead whales. But the fact that so many juveniles are migrating up and down the coast is encouraging,” Costidis said.

The whales are estimated to leave in April and the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Team hopes that ship captains will stay weary of the whales feeding in the Bay’s channel.

According to the Virginian Pilot, more whales are feeding around the shipping channel leading into the Chesapeake Bay. An estimated 100 ships come in and out of the Bay each week, making it a large danger zone for whales. Sources also say that it’s like setting up a dining table on a NASCAR race track, the likely hood of getting hit is significantly high.