It can be pretty difficult for animals to survive in the wild. From natural predators to extreme weather events, Mother Nature can be downright unforgiving at times. So, when you add reckless humans to the mix, some species may find survival especially challenging.

In New Jersey, a boater got dangerously close to a minke whale while cruising around Barnegat Bay. Sadly, the whale tragically died not long after the incident, and dozens of questions exist surrounding the boater's actions.

As reported by NJ.com, the fatal incident occurred in early August along the Jersey Shore. The minke whale had somehow ventured close to the shore, ending up in extremely shallow water for a species of that size.

Sheila Dean, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, offered a quick rundown of the series of events that led to the incident. "It looks like the whale was in shallow water, and of course, people in their boats surrounded it, and someone got very close," Dean said. "I don't know how they even got where the whale was because it was so shallow."

On Aug. 4, the MMSC announced that it had completed the necropsy on the deceased whale. The center confirmed it to be a 26-foot adult female that appeared to have a thin body condition and an empty GI tract. "Superficial cuts were present externally, with bruising present in the blubber and muscle in the areas of trauma on the dorsal side. Blood was present in the lungs," the report reads.

While the MMSC did not reveal the exact cause of death, it was speculated that the whale had fallen ill and wound up in shallow waters. Despite its likely preexisting condition, Dean heavily criticized the actions of the boat in question. "If the whale approaches you, you shut your engines off and just lay dead in the water until the whale swims away," Dean explained. "You should never approach a whale."

According to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is illegal to approach, feed, harass, hunt, capture, or kill marine mammals. Violators could face thousands of dollars in fines and even prison time. "You have to stay 150 feet away from marine mammals in the wild," Dean added. "That's the law."

In a post on the r/newjersey Reddit forum discussing the incident, many users were dismayed by the boater's lack of awareness.

"Maybe don't crowd around a whale in your boat running its propellers? Hope they get charged a fine, people need to learn to leave wildlife alone," one commenter noted.

Another user wrote: "This is so sad and so easily preventable,"

"That poor whale. It doesn't matter if it was already suffering or unwell, that was negligent abuse, thrashing the whale like that with the propeller," a third commenter added.

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