UPDATE: Dead whale stuck on sandbar, agencies assess options for next steps after failure to tow

INDIAN RIVER BAY, Del. — A dead humpback whale remains stranded more than a mile off the Delaware coast, as the Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation Institute worked for hours Wednesday trying to bring the mammal to shore, but their efforts were unsuccessful. 

MERR says the whale, approximately 35-feet long and 18 tons, is stuck on a sandbar. The whale's weight made it extremely difficult for the tow vessels to gain the leverage needed to move it, said DNREC.

MERR leads the response and is coordinating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency with jurisdiction over marine mammal protection. Both are now assessing options for next steps. DNREC will continue supporting the response by providing logistics, coordination and equipment as needed.

"We understand how difficult it is to see this whale in this condition. We're working closely with MERR to develop a new plan and will share more information as soon as we have it. We're committed to resolving the issue safely — for both navigation and public health." read a statement on DNREC's Facebook page.

On Monday, DNREC reported it received notification from the U.S. Coast Guard that a dead whale was found in the bay near the north side of the Indian River Inlet Bridge. 

Kelly Stark visited the area Wednesday after hearing about the whale.

"I had mixed feelings on whether I wanted to see it dead," said Stark. "But I thought it would be an experience just to see something so big. I've never seen anything like that."

MERR’s Suzanne Thurman emphasized the importance of retrieving the whale so a necropsy—an autopsy for animals—can be performed to determine the cause of death.

"We can't do anything to save this animal, obviously, at this point," said Thurman. "So what we can do for it is at least try to find out what happened—maybe what the cause of death was. Was there an illness that had taken place or human impacts that occurred? This all goes into a larger body of knowledge about the individual animal, but also the species."

A necropsy performed on the young humpback whale that washed ashore three weeks ago determined that it died from blunt force trauma caused by a large ship, Thurman said.

That whale was buried in the sand near Conquest Road in Delaware Seashore State Park after washing ashore there on March 12.

As for the current stranded whale, MERR says they are still currently assessing options for next steps, but if they can't tow the whale off the sandbar, it may eventually be up to Mother Nature—such as the next big storm—to help move the massive animal.