Dead Whale Washes Ashore On MD's Assateague Island

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, MD — A dead whale washed ashore on Maryland's Assateague Island National Seashore last week, and authorities are working to determine its cause of death.

A spokesperson with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources confirmed the male humpback whale carcass was found stranded on Jan. 31 on the north end of Assateague Island, a 37-mile-long barrier island located off the eastern coasts of Maryland and Virginia near the Delmarva Peninsula.

Officials said the whale was already dead when it washed ashore.

In a statement provided to WMAR, Assateague superintendent Hugh Hawthorne said the whale "had been dead for a while and showed strong evidence of postmortem predation."

Officials said the carcass was moved from the tidal zone and a necropsy was performed by the Maryland DNR Stranding Response Program and the National Aquarium volunteers before burial.

A DNR spokesperson said officials were unable to determine a cause of death and "samples are being shipped for diagnostic analysis."

The incident marks the second time a deceased whale was found on the Assateague Island shoreline. A 20-foot-long humpback whale was also discovered there on Jan. 16, 2023.