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The texts and Tweets, emails and phone calls started to fly early on Monday afternoon—a dead whale had washed up in the shallow surf at Seventh Street in Ocean City.
Within an hour, crowds started to form on the beach and boardwalk on a rainy January afternoon with more and more people arriving to catch a glimpse of the unfortunate visitor.
The stench was the first thing to greet Monday's visitors — with a sea breeze carrying the smell of the dead mammal to the boardwalk and street-ends nearby. The whale came ashore near the jetty at Seventh Street, and the waves rocked the carcass in the shallow water just off the beach.
"It's a very dead and badly decomposing whale that washed ashore" said Sheila Dean, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.
The whale, roughly 40 feet long, is either of the minke or fin species, Dean said. It's impossible at this point to determine how or exactly when the whale died, she added.
Curious onlookers should stay away from the dead marine mammal, as gases are building up inside its body, which could cause the carcass to explode, according to Dean.
Stranding Center technicians on the beach Monday said they will not be able to determine how the whale died until they can get better access to the animal — perhaps after an incoming tide pushes the whale further up the beach then recedes. (Update on Tuesday: The tide appears to have done its work.) They did not expect to have further information until Tuesday.
The tide was low when the whale first washed ashore at about 12:30 p.m. Monday (Jan. 23). A police officer at the scene said the whale had been reported earlier as it floated toward shore.
Mayor Jay Gillian and Business Administrator Mike Dattilo were on the beach Monday afternoon surveying the scene. Department of Public Works Director Mike Rossbach arrived a bit later.
Rossbach said he had some ideas about how to tackle the task of removing the whale carcass, but he said he would have to wait to get an OK and to see where on the beach the carcass lands after tonight's tide cycles. (See a unique strategy for removing a dead whale from an Oregon beach in November 1970.)
So the whale should remain in roughly the same place until at least Tuesday. That will make for a continuation of the attraction that brought out everybody from students to retirees.
Mainland Regional High School seniors Kristie Sepulueda and Kennedy Goldthorp and junior Jessica Duirek saw a Tweet about the whale after they finished their mid-terms on Monday morning, and they made the short drive from the mainland to take some photos from the Seventh Street jetty.
Ocean City real estate agent and Historical Museum President Ken Cooper said he had received about 20 calls about the whale.
"Everybody's talking about it," he said.
John Breckenridge was visiting from Philadelphia and chanced upon the scene early on Monday afternoon.
"It's sad," he said. "But at the same time, it's amazing. It's not every day you get to see an animal that big."
Mike Schoemer
3:55 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Yuk.
Rita C Krupa
8:56 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Inappropriate remark! It is nature taking place and something to marvel at!
Next time take a good look at your steak before you eat it!
Ellen
9:41 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Get a grip Rita.
beth
5:49 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
So sad to see such a magnifcant beast die alone
Greg Marino
7:08 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Happens to humans every day...and rarely do people raise an eyebrow. Yet, this whale seems to bring out the sorrow. Incredible...
Lori
6:05 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
I'm not sure why a video of a dead whale is necessary. If a crew was removing it from the water/beach, I could maybe see the value of it. This just seems tasteless.
Eric
6:26 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
they are just leaving it there until tuesday to generate some parkway toll and local business revenue
Nick M.
6:29 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
That whale went from Minke to stinky!
rich harger
6:35 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
just don't blow it up!! Remember what happened the last time. AC/DC, "TNT"
Amy Pippa Reed
6:38 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
lets call it snookie
Salt E Water
6:52 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
that's an insult to the whale..
Laurie
7:01 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
I'm with you.
Dr. Raab
10:02 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
more like thats an insult to snooki..
rich harger
6:45 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
need to take it back out to the ocean, let nature take care of it. don't let torpid inbreed poeple blow it up. remember what happened back in 70, AC/DC, TNT!!!
paul
7:13 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
call in the japanese whaling fleet, let em have sushi
Paul Stacy
7:16 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
sushi - smell can't be any worse than streets in NYC or meat packing area
Larry
7:23 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
I saw this Woman at Walmart last week roaming the sweets isle. I wonder what made her go swimming this time of year.
Guy Lathrop
7:34 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Call Japan...they like dead whales don't they?
Cathy Eriksen
7:53 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
The poor whale. Send you to Japan Guy! Hes one of Gods creatures, just as we are! I truely beleive we will be judged for the way we treat any animal. as Beth said they are magnificent~ <3
miriam
8:13 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
really a whale and all this time I thought it was Chris Christie
Gloria
9:25 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
I SO agree Miriam! Neither man nor whale has passed up a buffet table in ages! lol
Ellen
9:44 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Snarky but funny!
John Kotch Jr
9:40 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Not to get off subject, but I really like the dude's illuminati jacket, with the triangle and the 3 sixes in it.
Catherine Lucero
11:05 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
RITA---FYI,it is NOT natural for mammals to beach themselves......MAN is too blame for poisioning the waters and the skies,(in the name of science),and the way that they are diggin mummies up in egypt! (in the name of science),that really should be called grave robbing.just think if earth were to continue to survive(which i doubt!)they will be digging all of us up in a thousand years,(in the name of science).creeps me out,doesn't it you? I really believe that ignorance IS bliss.....................
Rob
11:38 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Catherine - FYI this "mammal" did not beach itself. It died at sea and washed ashore. It's possible that it even died from natural causes... Shocking, I know! If scientists do dig you up a thousand years from now I bet they will be amazed by the THC content found in your DNA. And if ignorance IS bliss, you must be euphoric.
Gloria
9:29 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Or we could all just live in caves, and burry our heads in the sand and....Say it ain't so!!!!
Moon
1:15 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Who cares, esp it you are dead if they dig you up in a thousand years. Yeah you're ignorant all right.
Jeramiah Johnson
11:43 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
A huge whale!!!!! Was it Moby Dick? If so, Ahab finally got his revenge.
Dan Peters
12:48 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I thought that sharks and other ocean scavengers prayed on on animals who have passed away......on another note, kinda sucks we only get to see animals like that so close once they have passed away, im an animal lover and would love to see it in its wild habitat.
john burke
6:03 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Maybe it was Chistie
Marlin Magnet
7:25 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I wonder if Mike Dattillo gets a kick back from Heritage to wear the jacket at city events?
dr john
8:14 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
whale burgers for NJ
Rita C Krupa
8:46 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I guess you never watched Whale Wars on Animal Planet. There are good, dedicated people who are trying to stop the Japanese from killing hundreds of whales.
Soon there will be no more whales washing ashore, because people eat them and they are going to be extinct within the next 20 years! This is no joke, dr John!!!
A. McCarthy
11:40 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Rita- clearly you are just a beached whale lost in this world. I have watched Whale Wars and have seen nothing being accomplished, so actually its a waste of our resources and time. The good, dedicated people you speak of have done nothing to stop the JAPS from killing these animals. Also Rita, there's starving children in Africa and a beached whale could do the body good. Amiright? I could really go for some sushi and insulin this winter, any one want to meet me at 7th street beach?
All in all, I say lets re-inact a scene in the 70's and blow that sh*t up!
Patrick Piriano
8:48 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
This is kinda serious at the moment, as I have had the same house on 11th and Asbury for 53 years. My Father worked for the city when I was a little kid. Belive it or not? It was a whole other world at the time, He was a heavy equipment guy for the city of OC. I watched him in my youth with a couple of other guys. I saw him dig big, and I mean BIG! holes to bury what ever came up at the time, this is 40 years ago by the way. I know they can not do that with this Whale, Taxpayers are going to have to pay for this to be taken to a landfill, Very Expensive, and very time consuming. Someday someone, when we are all gone, they will think... Were did all these Whale and Dolphin bones come from?
Dr. Raab
10:00 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
youre all ridiculous...its a dead whale.get out of oc for real excitement
Moon
1:17 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
lol Patch is the new excitement!
DTK
6:22 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
this is America's Greatest Family Resort.... someone please get the dead carcass outta here before tourist season!
Gloria
9:45 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Diane! Breathe!! Where's your shop? If the whale were left to rot on the beach, which it won't be, it would be gone before PA shows to up to reclaim the beach. Besides, they're used to the smell of dead things, they kill deer don't they?
DTK
9:34 am on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
really, gloria? how sad that you would publicly disrespect the very families who love ocean city and come every season to spend their hard earned dollars..... btw, i don't own a business.... i just love OC and worry about the underlying anti-tourist sentiment that i frequently hear......
Gloria
12:32 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Diane, how am I disrespecting the very familys who spend their hard earned dollars here? The fact is that a majoriety of them ARE deer hunters. And where's the bleeding heart for those of us who live here year round and spend our hard earned dollars year round in Ocean City? Who fight the multitudes of traffic in the summer to get TO our jobs. Who come home to no place to park our vehicles anywhere near our homes?! Who stay and keep this island from sinking into the ocean, tho it trys to at times, and who, inevitably haul away the trash and dead carcasses from our beaches??!! When do we get our respect?
Moon
1:19 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
wth do deer hunters have to do with tourists that come to OC. How incredibly off track this thread went lol
Gloria
5:13 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Geeze Moon? Too subtle for you?
Salt E Water
7:41 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I am starting a new business renting a variety of dead whales made of rubber to shore communities to attract people in the off season. I will offer a variety of smell effects to add to the realism.