OCEAN CITY--Officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center say the 12-foot whale that stranded itself on Ocean City's 35th street this afternoon was a short-finned pilot whale.
Jay Pagel, a spokesman for the stranding center, said it was the first stranding of this year for a short-finned pilot whale in New Jersey this year.
Pagel said the whale was underweight.
The whale, which was found around 3 p.m., attracted a large crowd of beachgrowers, who tried unsuccessfully to push the mammal back into the surf.
The whale eventually died.
