[MARINE_BIOLOGY_INTERNATIONAL] 2 whales stranded off Florida Keys set for release

Cudjoe Key, FL – Two pilot whales found stranded in the Florida Keys will be released.

Twenty pilot whales beached themselves Thursday in shallow water off Cudjoe Key. Seven survived and were confined in a makeshift pen to be treated for dehydration.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary spokeswoman Karrie Carnes tells The Key West Citizen that blood tests indicate that two of the whales were healthy enough to be released into deeper waters Saturday.

Necropsies are planned for the 13 whales that died.

Cudjoe Key is in the Lower Keys about 20 miles east of Key West.

--- In MARINE_BIOLOGY_INTERNATIONAL@yahoogroups.com, "lynnsl1" <lynnl1@...> wrote:
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> 16 pilot whales stranded near Keys
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> May 06, 2011 5:53 AM EDT
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> (CNN) -- Rescuers worked early Friday to save a group of pilot whales who stranded themselves in shallow waters near the Florida Keys.
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> There were more than 16 pilot whales stranded in an area about 20 miles north of Key West, said Art Cooper, the chairman of the Marine Mammal Conservancy.
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> By about 4 a.m. ET a team of about 50 people were able to get six of the whales into a safer area and were protecting them with a sea pen they had created, Cooper said.
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> The group of whales were spread out in about a four-mile area in waters that were as shallow as three inches in some areas.
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> The situation for the animals was dire because mass strandings can be a sign of some kind of sickness in some of the whales, Cooper said. Also being stuck in shallow waters make them vulnerable to predators.
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> "It is a bad situation for them when they get in the shallows and thrash around and bloody themselves," said Cooper. "If there is nobody to intervene for them they will die."
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> Karrie Carnes, of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also said the whales are in a perilous situation.
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> "It is highly likely that these animals are emaciated, that they are compromised," said Carnes.
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> Adult pilot whales can measure up to 20 feet long and weigh up to 3 tons. Due to their social nature, they are often involved in mass strandings, according to the American Cetacean Society. The ACS is a non-profit group based in California that works to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises, according to its website.
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> Last year, dozens of pilot whales died in northern New Zealand after 58 of them were stranded on a remote beach.
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