Overview
- The 32-foot, roughly 10-ton male washed ashore on Jan. 8 in the Ocean Ridge area of Bethany Beach after floating at sea for a couple of days.
- Responders from the MERR Institute towed the whale to shore with DNREC heavy equipment on Jan. 9 and conducted a necropsy.
- Examiners documented subdermal hemorrhaging and a broken right jaw, injuries often associated with collisions involving large ships.
- Officials said the whale was likely alive when struck, and the carcass was buried on the beach because offshore towing was unsafe.
- Hyannis Whale Watcher identified the animal as a familiar juvenile called “Oil Change,” and specialists noted Delaware experienced several large-whale strandings last year.