Ahoy! Whale bumps into Ocean City Fishing Pier

A visitor captured video of a whale bumping into the Ocean City Fishing Pier around noon on Friday, astounding all those standing above. 

The video, taken by Troy Bickle, 25, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, shows the whale breach slightly out of the water before flipping its big tail and swimming away.

"It was awesome," says Bickle, who was on a fishing trip with his father and brother. "I don’t think I’ll experience something like that ever again up that close.”

Bickle and his family noticed this wave sort of coming toward where they were standing on the pier, which only had about seven or eight people at the time. 

Sandi Smith, marketing and development director for the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, said it was most likely a juvenile humpback whale, but would defer to the National Aquarium for proper identification. 

All in all, it's not abnormal for whales to pass by Ocean City's coast.

"Pretty normal — this time of year, everyone is migrating," she said. 

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There's likely a good food source out in the waterways, and Smith said a photographer caught a glimpse of a whale last week swimming with dolphins. 

What's been more surprising this offseason is the amount of seals, she said. 

"This has been a very unique winter, we've been knee deep in seals," Smith said, pointing to three that showed up on the beach last weekend.

It's still something that goes viral and gets people excited, rightly so, she said.

A post in the Ocean City Cool Facebook group garnered more than 1,200 shares and 750-plus likes in just 40 minutes. By 4 p.m. Friday, it was past 15,000 shares and over 6,000 likes. 

Bickle says his Facebook page has been "blowing up" since he posted the video.

The general consensus from the hundreds of commenters was a simple, "Wow."

The family hadn't much luck fishing for stripers, but their patience paid dividends in the early part of their weekend stay.

It'll top all his future fish tales, he says, and he's got the video to prove it. 

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