A method for measurement and monitoring of mechanical loads in large slender structures such as wind turbine blade and tower is presented based on continuous strain data obtained from distributed fiber optic sensor. An experimental study was carried out on an aluminum cantilever beam. A static load test was performed and the calculated moment from the distributed fiber optic sensor agree well with the actual applied moment. A series of damages was inflicted on the beam, and vibration tests were carried out for each damage case. The estimated natural frequencies from the distributed fiber optic sensor for each damage case are found to compare well with those from a conventional accelerometer and a numerical analysis based on an energy method.