An 18-foot minke whale became trapped under a pier in the shallow harbor waters of Chatham on Thursday afternoon.
The Cape Cod town's Stage Harbor attracted onlookers as one of the smaller species of whale got caught twice on shallow sands. At one point, the minke whale beached itself on a clam flat, according to the Cape Cod Times.
Brian Sharp of the International Fund for Animal Welfare told reporters that the sand had scraped the whale's body and especially on its dorsal fin.
Reports say that as of Thursday evening, the whale remained stuck in the harbor despite rescuers' attempts. IFAW officials hoped the whale would follow the outgoing tide and return to deeper waters, but have not shared an update on the whale.