A 50-foot fin whale was found stranded on a sandbar off Cape Henlopen State Park and was later beached on the ocean side of The Point, Delaware officials said.
The whale was first found stranded on a sandbar Thursday morning, news outlets report. Natural resources police helped the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute monitor the whale until high tide came in and it was able to swim back out to sea, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control spokeswoman Nikki Lavoie said.
The whale was later beached on the ocean side of The Point, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Natural resources police set up a boundary around the whale, though swimmers still appeared to be in close proximity. Blood was visible in the water.
The team didn’t notice any injuries initially, but the institute said large whales often strand themselves when they are injured or have a disease, according to a Facebook postfrom MERR.
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