Visitors to the beaches of Ocean City, Maryland, have been
treated to some rare and interesting sightings recently. Our
Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP) has received several reports
of large whales feeding very close to shore over the last week,
which makes for great viewing while on vacation. Our MARP staff
members have been fielding a lot of questions about these
sightings, so we’d like to share some important information: As
you can see from the picture, the whale is very close to the
shore. The Mid-Atlantic coast is a popular destination for
migrating marine mammals (dolphins, whales, seals or manatees)
and sea turtles, but recently these animals are coming much
closer to land. Why is that? Large whales, like most marine
animals, tend to congregate in areas where food is plentiful.
Recently, large schools of Atlantic menhaden have been spotted
along the Atlantic coast of Maryland and Delaware. As a result
of this, there have been several big pods of dolphins, and even
large whales spotted very close to