Humpback beached near Delaware Seashore State Park
A 35-foot, 14-ton humpback whale was spotted in the surf zone near Delaware Seashore State Park in the early evening March 12, according to a Facebook post by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
DNREC and the MERR Institute are working together to respond to the situation, the post reads.
According to an article by Suzanne Thurman, Wayne Kline and Nicholas Couch for DNREC, stranded marine animals that wash ashore are typically in a debilitated state due to a wide variety of reasons, such as injury or illness, entanglement in fishing gear, exposure to toxins, exposure to underwater noise pollution and habitat loss or disruption.
More information will be added when it is released.
Ellen McIntyre is a reporter covering education and all things Dewey Beach. She graduated with a bachelor’s in journalism from the Penn State Schreyer Honors College in May 2024, after which she completed an internship writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In 2023, she traveled to New Zealand to cover the Women’s World Cup as a freelancer for the Associated Press and saw her work published by outlets like The Washington Post and FOX Sports. She also has a variety of other reporting experience, covering crime and courts, investigations, politics and the arts. As a Hockessin, Delaware, native, she’s happy to be back in her home state, though she enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She also loves live music, reading, hiking and spending time in nature.
