INDIAN RIVER BAY, Del. - The dead humpback whale found in the Indian River Bay last week has floated into the inlet. The Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation Institute says they were able to collect more samples on Friday and were going to try to tow the whale again Wednesday before it got carried away.
The whale's weight of 18-tons made it extremely difficult for the tow vessels to gain the leverage needed to move it the first time, said DNREC. The whale can now be identified by the orange ball float still attached to the whale, said MERR. The organization attempted to beach the whale Tuesday as it moved out to see but was to fast. It now is headed south.
It was on Monday, DNREC reported that it had received notification from the U.S. Coast Guard that the whale was found dead in the bay near the north side of the Indian River Inlet Bridge. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute are coordinating efforts to get the whale ashore to be able to perform a necropsy.