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Friday, January 6, 2012

Whale awes Penguin Swim participants

OCEAN CITY -- Folks bold enough to brave the chilly Atlantic surf on New Year's Day say they were treated to the sight of a whale swimming and feeding close to the Ocean City shoreline.
"It was so cool," said Kerri Curran of West Ocean City. "I was standing there with my son and some other people. (Event organizer) Amy Unger was down on the beach, telling people it was supposed to be a dip, and not to stay in the water -- and the whale came swimming by."
Curran said the whale surfaced momentarily and blew water out of its spout, and came up two or three more times to the delight of onlookers at the 18th annual Atlantic General Hospital Penguin Swim, held outside the Princess Royale hotel.
Curran added she only got to see the whale because she arrived late after having forgotten to bring her bathing suit and didn't get to swim.
"I got to see probably one of the coolest things I'll ever get to see," she said. "I think he got the memo there was a Penguin Swim, and when he got there, said, 'Those aren't any penguins I've seen before.' "
Patricia Ilczuk-Lavanceau, a Penguin Swim organizer, said one of the big topics of the day was the whale going back and forth, about 75 feet from the shorebreak for about a two-hour period.
"Yes, it was awesome," she said. "It added a lot of glamour to our event. Because the weather was so great, people could actually be outside and watch. There was no wind. It was probably the second-most perfect day they've had (for the event)."
She described the whale as dark gray in color and quite large.
"I could ride it," she said with a laugh.
The whale isn't just hanging out in Ocean City for Thrasher's fries. It's following schools of fish in the area and has been feeding up and down the Maryland and Delaware coastline, according to Jennifer Dittmar, stranding coordinator for the for the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
She said the aquarium received several reports during the last week that a large whale was very close to shore feeding, and when the whale made its New Year's Day appearance, one of her contacts called her about it.
"It appeared to be feeding and kind of putting on a show for the folks was my understanding," she said. "So the animal is traveling; it doesn't appear to be in distress or tangled. It appears the animal is just following the food. It's easy food for them. They can kind of open their mouth and swim through, and get a good meal."
In summer 2010, a humpback whale exhibited the same behavior, feeding and following schools of fish, Dittmar said. She said a single whale will hang around if the feeding is good, with changing water temperatures a cue for the creatures to head south.
She can't be sure exactly what species of whale was spotted at the Penguin Swim, but she is confident it's a baleen whale. That's the sort that doesn't have teeth, but instead opens its mouth and filters the water, eating whatever floats in. She said most baleen whales -- there are about 10 species of them -- travel the seas on their own, unlike whales with teeth that travel in pods.
Dittmar, who oversees the aquarium's animal rescue department, said the aquarium is asking anyone who may have photographed the whale at close range to send their pictures to marp@aqua.org.
"It's definitely not out of the ordinary for us to see. It's just a really cool event for all those folks on the beach. They got a New Year's Day treat," she said.
While the U.S. Coast Guard was aware a whale was sighted by spectators, no official report was filed of the incident because the Coast Guard had no visual confirmation the animal was there, according to Petty Officer Jeffrey Jonsson of Coast Guard Station Ocean City

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