The Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute says the animal, a juvenile humpback between 2 and 3 years of age, washed up on Dewey Beach’s shores late last week.
MERR executive director Suzanne Thurman says the whale was spotted floating in the bay some time before, but it was necessary for the carcass to reach the beach before attempting to move it.
“So we’re estimating the weight to be around 20,000 pounds. So, we can’t safely examine the animal when it’s actively rolling in the surf because it could roll on top of us and that could pose a really high risk to our wellbeing.” she told DPM.
Thurman says that the animal is being identified through MERR records using the white coloration on their flukes, or tails. This pigmentation is so distinct from whale to whale that no two have ever been observed to be identical, says Thurman.
"Their flukes, that's almost like the whales fingerprint" she said.
Heavy equipment assisted in bringing the whale ashore, where MERR officials conducted a limited examination for potential causes of death.
An examination indicates the animal was between 2 and 3 years old. Humpbacks can live to be between 80 and 90 years old, which Thurman says struck the team as a tragic death very early in the creature's life.
“We were sent a video of the whale this past summer when it was alive, and it was playing in the water up in Massachusetts. To see that its life was ended so prematurely makes it a lot harder on all of us as responders. Every whale is important and every whale is special, but this one really captured our hearts.” she said.
The MERR Institute determined the whale had signs of internal bleeding and a broken jaw before it died. Thurman says those typically indicate an impact with a large ship.
Humpback whales were removed from the endangered species list in 2016, Thurman says since then ship strikes have increased as cause of death for whales found on Mid-Atlantic shores.
Thurman says MERR historically would deal with a large beached whale once every few years- she says now, it’s often at least one every year.
