An 11-foot, 1,200-pound male pygmy sperm whale beached itself at Sebastian Inlet State Park Tuesday and had to be euthanized, according to Steve Burton, marine mammal stranding manager at FAU/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.
Burton said the deep-water species should not be found close to shore and rehabilitation won’t work to keep it alive. A necropsy was performed to determine what may have ailed the animal. Results are expected in a few weeks.
Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, park rangers and personnel from Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, Harbor Branch and Hubbs Sea World Research Institute responded to the stranding. A tractor was used to load the carcass into the Harbor Branch rescue ambulance.
It was the second fatal stranding of a pygmy sperm whale in local waters in the past two weeks. The first occurred Sept. 8 near Tracking Station Park in Vero Beach.
Anyone who spots a stranded whale or dolphin should call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stranding hotline at 888-404-3922.
