Community Corner

Photos: Whale's Burial Site Undisturbed by Storm

Hurricane Sandy did not expose the decomposing carcass of a whale that washed ashore in January 2012.

Superstorm Sandy left little of Ocean City untouched.

The massive hurricane knocked dunes flat, flooded downtown stores, drenched homes and left almost a half-billion dollars in damage throughout the island.

But one spot left undisturbed by the Oct. 29 storm: the burial site of the 60-foot fin whale that washed ashore in January.

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The fin whale — a member of the second-largest animal species on Earth (behind the blue whale) — met its end in a collision with a ship off the coast of New Jersey and ultimately came to rest on the beach at Eighth Street.

That created an urgent question for the city: What to do with 60,000 pounds of rapidly rotting blubber?

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Some people wondered about the solution: To bury it on the beach.

The whale was cut into piece and transported to the north end of Ocean City and buried deep under the sand on the bay side of the Ocean City-Longport Bridge at a spot city officials said was the highest beach on the island.

Apparently they were right.

The spot where it was buried appears to be one of the only parts Ocean City's beachfront not significantly affected by erosion from the storm. The whale continues to rest in peace, and the question of how fast a fin whale decomposes remains unanswered.

Read more:

  • Whale Washes Ashore at Seventh Street in Ocean City
  • Necropsy Underway on Dead Whale on Ocean City Beach
  • Ocean City Hauling Away Whale Carcass in Pieces


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