Whale beached in New Jersey gets graffiti tag

A DEAD Minke whale that washed ashore in New Jersey suffered some further indignity: someone tagged it with graffiti.

Tagged ... police say the purple markings are not gang-related and appear to be Greek let

A DEAD Minke whale that washed ashore in New Jersey suffered some further indignity: someone tagged it with graffiti.

The whale, which was roughly up to 4.5 metres long, was discovered Thursday morning below Atlantic City’s Central Pier.

Police tell The Press of Atlantic City the purple markings are not gang-related and appear to be Greek letters.

Down by the sea ... the roughly 4.5 metre whale was discovered Thursday morning below Atlantic City’s Central Pier. Picture: Twitter

The letters appeared to be Tau Epsilon Phi, a fraternity that has chapters at several area schools, followed by what looked like “94.”

Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center says the whale appeared to have been dead for several days and washed up during a strong storm. It had no sign of trauma. A state pathologist will try to determine the cause of death.

The beaching closely follows an incident two days ago in which a 25-metre blue whale washed up on a Canada boardwalk, prompting fears the carcass would explode.