It’s been an exciting week for wildlife sightings in Ocean City. Two different videos have been lighting up social media, one showing a whale pop out of the water, the other, a friendly manatee playing around the coastal bays.
The manatee was spotted near Sunset Marina Wednesday evening, according to a post from Facebook user Kevin Bryan, who captured photos and video of the mammal poking its whiskered face out of the water. As of Tuesday, the Facebook video had more than 32,000 views. Watch below:
While manatee sightings at the dock are unusual, The National Aquarium says they visit the Bay region seasonally, coming here to look for food when the water is warm enough. The Aquarium came out to investigate the one in Ocean City, but had no luck in finding it. In a statement, the Aquarium tells Bay Bulletin:
“The National Aquarium was alerted of the sighting, however our staff was unable to spot the animal in the places that were reported. We ask the public to please report new sightings to the Aquarium’s stranding hotline at 410-576-3880, and stay at least 150 feet away from the animal, including when in boats, paddle boards and kayaks.”
Meanwhile, a charter fishing company had their own lucky sighting. Chasin’ Tides Charters posted video last Monday evening of a whale’s giant head emerging from the water, as if to say hi. Chasin’ Tides was on a shark-fishing charter at the time, and in their Facebook post the company writes, “You never know what you may see while out on the Ocean.” Watch the four-second clip below:
