Environment

Two Beached Whales Die off Florida Coast After Failed Rescue

by Blaine Metzgar | August 10, 2009 at 03:49 pm

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Two beached whales died off the coast of Hollywood, Florida after a rescue crew failed to keep them alive and get them back to deeper waters. Hundreds of onlookers watched as a mother whale and her baby were stranded on the coastline. The mother and her calf were spotted around 1 p.m. in waist deep water by swimmers in the area who proceeded to encourage the pair back out to sea but they soon returned to the beach.

A team of marine mammal specialists hoped desperate efforts would save the troubled whales after they became trapped in shallow waters at Hollywood beach, just north of Miami. The mother died and the calf had to be euthanized, authorities said.

The mother — which experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration identified as a beaked whale — was about 10 to 12 feet long. The baby was about half her size.

Some placed towels on the whales to prevent their skin from drying, said Eileen Vulpis of Coral Springs, who watched the rescue attempt. Volunteers waded into the water and held umbrellas over the whales in hopes of further shielding them from the sun as summertime crowd of tourists and local residents looked on.

The mother whale died, and the calf was brought next to her and later euthanized by a NOAA marine mammal specialist as a crowd looked on.

Nearly 300 people stood along the shore watching the event, some had tears welling up in their eyes when the animals passed away.