{"id":44850,"date":"2025-06-17T15:55:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T19:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=44850"},"modified":"2025-06-17T15:55:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T19:55:40","slug":"public-should-report-marine-mammal-and-turtle-sightings-and-strandings-in-maryland-to-dnr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/06\/17\/public-should-report-marine-mammal-and-turtle-sightings-and-strandings-in-maryland-to-dnr\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Should Report Marine Mammal and Turtle Sightings and Strandings in Maryland to DNR"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Whale

This humpback whale washed ashore on Assateague Island in summer 2024 and was investigated by Maryland DNR’s Stranding Response Program. Photo by Amanda Weschler, Maryland Department of Natural Resources.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources asks residents and visitors enjoying coastal and tidal waterways to remain alert for marine mammals and sea turtles into summer through early fall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

D<\/span>olphins, manatees, sea turtles, whales, and other marine wildlife are regular seasonal visitors to the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries, the Atlantic Ocean, and coastal bays. So far in 2025, Maryland has reported a higher-than-average number of strandings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The five-year average (2020\u20132024) for marine mammal strandings in Maryland from January to May was 10 cases. As of June, the stranding program has responded to 29 animals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who sees a marine mammal or sea turtle in Maryland waters is encouraged to report it via the Maryland Natural Resources Police Hotline, 800-628-9944, or use a simple <\/span>online form<\/span><\/a> to report deceased marine mammals or sea turtles. Anglers, boaters, and beachgoers should especially be on the lookout for stranded, dead, sick, injured, or entangled animals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCitizen reports allow us to have eyes on Maryland\u2019s 3,190 miles of tidal coastline,\u201d said <\/span>Stranding Response Program<\/span> Coordinator Amanda Weschler. \u201cThe data provided about each deceased animal and the select necropsies we perform contribute valuable information to the scientific understanding of the challenges protected species face in our waters.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 1990, Maryland\u2019s <\/span>Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Response Program<\/span><\/a> has collected reports of more than 1,590 strandings<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the first cases the staff responded to in April was a West Indian manatee, reported by a private citizen kayaking on the Pocomoke River in Worcester County. DNR biologists determined that it likely stranded in late summer or early fall of 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was the first known stranded manatee in Maryland since <\/span>November 2016<\/span><\/a>. West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus) are considered an \u201cout-of-habitat\u201d species in Maryland, making this sighting particularly rare.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other animal strandings to which DNR has responded in 2025 are:<\/span><\/p>\n