Whale in OC

July 9, 2010
Yesterday a 25 foot whale washed up between 2nd and 3rd St in Ocean City Maryland. This is just one of many dead and live whales we have seen in just a few months.

The first was March 15, a 27 foot, 10 ton Humpback whale washed up on 4th St. It was determined that a boat had hit it causing it's death. This whale was loaded onto a truck bed and analyzed at the Ocean City airport by marine biologists.



The second, on March 22 was just 2 weeks later in Fenwick Island, DE. Only about a 10 minute drive up the beach, a Fin whale became another beached fatality. That one was much larger, estimated to be 50 tons and 61 ft. So large, in fact, that it was just buried on the beach.

On May 14, 2010 a rare beaked whale said to look like a Dolphin on steroids washed up on the beaches of north Ocean City, it was alive, but was euthanized because it was sick. It had beached itself and after it was freed it swam up a canal and got stuck under a dock. This whale was such a rare creature that the Smithsonian researchers rushed to come check it out.

More recently, there have been less depressing whale sightings, was said to be feeding just of the beach close to 44th St. It swam along the coast and then headed back out to sea. This is not normal, but at least it is alive and well.

The National Aquarium says the mid-Atlantic coast is a popular destination for migrating marine mammals. But recently, the animals are coming much closer to land.

I think something is fishy here, and not just the smell of these decaying whales. I think there must be something that is killing these whales, not just boats, but maybe our polution, or the overfishing that leave these animals with nothing left to eat. No matter what it is, it is Sad! I have been living here for most of the last 20 years, and never before have I seen or heard of a whale in Ocean City, This year there have been five documented since March. That is 5 in 5 months! Shocking!