A dead whale which was found floating off the coast of Bethany Beach on Thursday was apparently hit by a ship, according to The Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation Institute.
The whale was seen flipped on its back in the waters near Ocean Ridge on Jan. 8. It later washed onto the shore.
MERR said the 32-foot whale, a young male humpback, was estimated to weigh a minimum of 20,000 pounds and was very bloated. A postmortem necropsy determined the whale had bleeding under its skin – subdermal hemorrhaging – and a broken jaw on the right side. MERR said this type of blunt force injury is often associated with a large ship strike. They also said the nature of the wounds indicate the whale was still alive when it was struck.
“This was a tragic event, and we would like to thank everyone who helped to support us in our examination of this whale,” said MERR executive director Suzanne Thurman.
MERR said the whale was ultimately buried on the beach, which is the most common practice for disposal of the body, so that the whale can become an important part of the beach’s ecosystem.
MERR also shared they believe the whale came from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he was nicknamed “Oil Change,” due to the large white patch on his tail fin, also known as the fluke. A whale watching organization in Cape Cod, Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises, says they believe to have seen Oil Change through September in the Cape Cod Bay.