DNR’s Marine Mammal
& Sea Turtle Stranding Program to Perform Necropsy on Stranded Humpback
Whale
BERLIN — Biologists from Maryland’s Marine Mammal & Sea Turtle
Stranding Program began performing a necropsy today on a 35- to 40-foot
humpback whale that was recently discovered stranded in the Atlantic Ocean
off the Maryland coast. The U.S. Coast Guard towed the animal onto shore
at Assateague State Park earlier today; the whale had first been seen
floating approximately 6 miles off Ocean City yesterday morning.
The necropsy will take place on the beach near the park’s nature center
today and likely tomorrow. Media who would like to attend the necropsy are
asked to comply with Maryland Park Service rangers and to not interrupt
biologists.
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologists partnered with
biologists from the National Aquarium in Baltimore to perform the
necropsy. Other partners in this effort include the Town of Ocean City and
the Ocean City Beach Patrol.
The Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program is administered
by the National Marine Fisheries Service and includes volunteer stranding
networks in all coastal states. In Maryland, the Marine Mammal and Sea
Turtle Stranding Network has been administered jointly by DNR at the
Cooperative Oxford Lab (COL) and by the National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB)
since the fall of 1990. COL stranding personnel respond to dead, stranded
animals, while the NAIB responds to live animals.
The DNR staff at the Cooperative Oxford Lab in Talbot County is asking
visitors to Maryland’s beaches this summer to be
on the lookout for marine mammals such as dolphins or whales, and sea
turtles that have become stranded or appear to be dead. Anyone who spots
such an animal is asked call the Maryland Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle
Stranding Program at 1-800-628-9944. Be
sure to note the location of the animal, what species it is and what kind
of condition it’s in when making the call. For more information on the
program, call
http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/
oxford/research/fwh/strandingprogram