FORT PIERCE – Personnel from Harbor Branch’s marine mammal rescue program, members of the Red Cross and a representative of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, responded to a mass stranding of pilot whales at Avalon State Park this morning.
According to Audubon Society President Richard Baker who was on the scene early, the 22 whales came ashore sometime after 5 a. m. They ranged in length from about 5 to 16 feet.
Stephen McCulloch and Dr. Juli Goldstein, directors of the mammal rescue program, were notified and arrived to coordinate the response.
Harbor Branch volunteers and beach-goers worked at McCulloch’s direction to keep the animals hydrated and secure as they were tagged for identification and evaluated by Goldstein, a veterinarian, and other professionals.
A series of white canvas shelters were erected to shade the whales and volunteers, giving the beach an ironically festive look, as passersby and people notified of the stranding gathered around the tents.
By 1 p.m., several whales had died and others were in distress.
Harbor Branch’s marine mammal ambulance was on the scene and McCulloch said plans were underway to transport five calves to the rescue and rehabilitation center at Seward Johnson’s former home on the Harbor Branch campus, where a large circular swimming pool has been converted to a saltwater environment used to house rescued animals undergoing treatment.
He said most of the other whales would likely have to be euthanized because there was no way to transport or maintain them.
“Look at the size of that animal,” McCulloch said, pointing to one of the larger whales. “There is nothing we can do with him.”
Even if they could be moved, returning the animals to the water in their debilitated condition would likely make them easy prey for sharks.
Approximately one million pilot whales live in the oceans. They can be 20 feet or more in length and weigh more than 5,000 pounds.
According to the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, they are among the most common stranders. Because of their strong social bonds, it is not unusual for whole groups of pilot whales to come ashore together. Group strandings tend to be of mostly healthy individuals. The reason the animals strand is a mystery.
