Ocean City Surf Report

Posted: March 23rd - Updated: March 31st

A 61-foot fin whale washed ashore on Fenwick Island on Friday, March 19.

The whale was first reported on Wednesday, March 17, by the Coast Guard vessels about 4.5 miles off the Indian River Inlet. The whale continued to drift and altered its course over the next few days.

“It was kind of a challenge,” said Suzanne Thurman, executive director of MERR Institute. “We were tracking it, but due to wind direction and surface currents, it made it hard to estimate where and if she was going to land.”

The beaching marked the largest whale MERR (Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation) has responded to, and largest whale to wash up on Delaware shores in recorded history.

“It appears that there has been trauma, but have to wait and see until we can better look,” Thurman said. Unfortunately, that look fell on a day marked by heavy rain and thunderstorms and expected gale force winds along the coast, which makes the process of a necropsy on the large mammal even more dangerous and difficult.

During the days from the initial beaching to its removal, MERR volunteers took shifts standing with the body in order to answer questions from the throng of visitors to see the large creature. Thurman and a group of MERR volunteers, along with crew members of the Division of Soil and Water all assisted in moving and preparing the whale for the necropsy on Monday, March 22. “Of course, our volunteers, as always, have been great, and the state has been more than cooperative and helpful for this not-so-pleasant task,” Thurman said.

“It is always tragedy to see such a beautiful animal wash up on shore,” she added.”The best we can do is to try to find out what happened to her. It’s physically grueling to deal with an animals this size and I can’t thank the volunteers enough who endure these weather conditions.”

This marks the second whale to wash up on local shores in recent week, with a 10-ton humpback whale beaching on March 15 in Ocean City, Maryland. The result of the young female humpback was determined to have suffered a head trauma, most likely caused by coming in contact with a boat.”The majority of these animals have died or become injured or ill because the impact of human behavior, so the least we can do is try to find out more about it when it washes ashore,” Thurman said.

The fin whale is the second-largest animal on the planet, behind only the blue whale. The fin whale can grow to more than 80 feet in length and live into its 90s. The endangered mammal is a baleen whale, which means it does not have teeth, but rather filters its food through its mouth, feeding mainly on small fish and crustaceans.

It is known as the “greyhound of the sea,” as its slender body enables it to propel its massive frame up to 25 miles an hour.

For more information on the non-profit MERR Institute and find out ways to help, visit www.merrinstitute.org, To report a sea mammal stranding, call the MERR Hotline at 302.228.5029

Huge thanks to MERR for providing the photo’s and press release ! Thanks guys!

Update on the washed up Fin Whale in Fenwick Island looks like there was head trauma & a fractured skull, most likely a large ship.

Two odd story’s to report on this week both involving marine life, On Saturday March 13th at around noon a call came in to Ocean City first responders reporting a very large beached whale by the inlet downtown the whale was dead upon further inspection. The Ocean City Police, Fire, Public Works Departments & Local Coast Guard units responded and went straight to work securing and removing the whale with heavy equipment and a large flatbed truck it took crews hours to move the huge whale off the sand and on to the trailer with help from a small army of city workers. According to officials from Ocean City, the creature appeared to be a 32 foot 11 ton humpback whale. Biologists with the Baltimore Aquarium were set to examine it at 65th Street, No word on the cause of death as of yet but some speculate that the navy’s sonar equipment that is currently being tested on Wallops Island that was put in place last year could be to blame. Records show that Assateague Island had 3 whales wash up last winter. More then likely the whale was struck by a ship.

Also this week there was a beached Grey Seal that stranded himself, It appeared that the seal was sick and was seeking help Ocean City Animal Control was called and responded within minutes quickly blocking off the area and giving the seal some room to relax. Biologists with the Baltimore Aquarium were called on Monday and were sent to 43rd street to check on the seal on Tuesday, By then it was to late the seal had gone back in to the ocean after spending more then 3 days out of water more then likely it had ate some kind of trash in the water. No one knows the fate of the seal OC Animal Control said these are some of the more aggressive types of seals that live in our area but this one was so sick you could get within feet of him and he wouldn’t bother you showing how sick he really was.  Hopefully it will pop back up on our shore so they can take a look at him. Defiantly two odd and sad story’s this week both involving marine life. Big Thanks To Greg Leister For Sharing The Whale Photo’s With OC Surf Report!

Written by Mick Chester

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