Dauphin Island Sea Lab monitors stranded sperm whale

Press Release • November 22, 2020

Sperm whale in Mobile Bay

(OBA®) - Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Marine Mammal Research Program personnel responded to a live-stranded, approximately 35-foot sperm whale in Mobile Bay on Thursday, November 19, 2020. This is the first documented stranded sperm whale in the state of Alabama. The team worked in collaboration with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR).

Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network and DISL Marine Mammal Research Program s staff monitor a stranded sperm whale in Mobile Bay.

On average, two sperm whales strand in the Gulf of Mexico each year, most often in the late summer and fall. The Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network, including the network veterinarian and biologists, continued to monitor the condition of the animal on Friday, November 20, 2020. Unfortunately, the prognosis is poor for a large whale such as this, due to its size and location of the stranding.

The sperm whale was last spotted on Friday evening in Mobile Bay. Boaters are asked to be on the lookout in the Bay, Sound, and nearshore Gulf of Mexico waters and report any sightings to the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The whale could be anywhere around Dauphin Island, Fort Morgan, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Perdido Key Florida.

Please report sick, dead, injured, or out of habitat marine mammals in Alabama to the Stranding Network hotline at 1-877-WHALE-HELP (942-5343).

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