Updated 10 am, Wednesday
Norton Point Beach was reopened to oversand vehicle traffic Wednesday morning following the removal of what remained of a badly decomposed whale. Water quality results came back fine. Beachgoers are still cautioned to swim at their own risk, Adam Darack, Edgartown public information officer said.
The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) manages the county owned barrier beach. Chris Kennedy, TTOR Martha’s Vineyard superintendent, told The Times late Tuesday that the whale carcass, which was slowly moving east in the surf, had broken in two pieces complicating the removal effort. The head is rolling in the surf and the body is stuck in the sand. He said it is difficult to determine what type of whale it was but the jaw bone indicates a baleen and not a toothed whale.
The whale carcass was towed off the beach early Wednesday.
The whale initially washed up on South Beach in the area commonly referred to as “left fork,” just to the west of the Norton Point Beach entrance on Monday. The area would normally attract large crowds of beach-goers and swimmers.
At approximately 8:30 am, Monday Mr. Darack sent out a text message cautioning beachgoers to swim at their “own risk.” Dead whales have the potential to attract sharks, Mr. Darack said.
There have been no reports of sharks sighted in the vicinity.