By Mike Finney

LEWES — A 50-foot fin whale stranded since Thursday on a sandbar in the Delaware Bay near The Point at Cape Henlopen captured the imaginations and prayers of many who were pulling for the ailing underdog.

Sadly, the whale died at around 1:30 Friday afternoon without human intervention. Fin whales are the second largest whales on earth, after blue whales. They are listed as endangered throughout their range and are more commonly found in deep waters.

“The fin whale is an endangered species and is usually not found this close to shore,” said Rob Rector, with the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute. “It was pronounced dead by a veterinarian from the Virginia aquarium (Friday) at 1:30 p.m., and teams are now performing an autopsy on the body to determine preliminary information.

“We won’t be able to say for certain what led it to shore, as there are a variety of reasons that whales strand themselves. From parasitic, to plastic ingestion, to damage to the ear from sonic testing, which in turn disrupts their navigation, there are a number of things.”

Veterinarians and representatives with the MERR Institute were on-site Friday evening handling the situation.

Many who were pulling for the whale to come through responded to the MERR Institute’s Facebook page.

“Thank you guys for all you do,” wrote BobbyJo Bonser. “We saw this on a boat tour (Thursday) morning and have been anxiously waiting for news. Praying for the best outcome please keep us posted.”

Dave Chicchirichi Jr. was a little more blunt in his assessment, writing, “Like all living things whales die. Sad but true fact.”

The fin whale’s death came a day after MERR responders were taken to the scene with the help of the Delaware Natural Resources Police to get a closer look at the whale and evaluate it for any potential injuries or entanglement.

“Since the initial observation (Thursday) morning, the whale has moved off the sandbar and closer to shore, rather than into deeper water, which is not a good sign,” MERR officials said in a statement. “The whale seems to be struggling, and in the process of beaching itself.

“Biologists are standing by to monitor the animal, and NOAA is working with stranding network partners in the region to develop a response plan, which includes options for palliative care, sedation, or euthanasia.”

Since becoming stranded on the Cape Henlopen sandbar, the fin whale gave little reason for optimism that it might eventually go back to sea.

“At this time, we do not know what has caused this whale to strand, but when large whales come close to shore like this, there is usually an underlying reason like injury or disease,” said MERR officials. “The team on scene has not identified any obvious injuries at this point.

“Sadly, in situations like this, there is often very little we can do to help save the whale; returning the whale to deeper water — which is a challenge under the best of circumstances for animals of this size and weight — would only prolong its suffering and it would likely strand again.”

Mr. Rector said that, since the whale has died, MERR’s plan is to bring it out of the water and onto the sand to perform a necropsy. Once that’s finished, the whale will be buried in the sand.