Marine authorities are working hard to save dozens of pilot whales found at the shores of the Everglades National Park in Florida but their survival expectancy is not high.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine mammal scientist Blair Maise said that they have already recorded 10 deaths of short-finned pilot whales with four of them had gone through euthanasia due to very “poor condition.” This led the wildlife officials “to set the expectations low.”
The short-finned pilot whales were found stranded in the shallow waters of the western part of Everglades National Park by fishermen on Tuesday. According to Linda Friar, the Park’s spokesperson, this area is only accessible by boat.
Although the wildlife officials are not hopeful about the survival of these particular stranding whales, it is good to know that they are not endangered.
"These events, while they're tragic, don't have any implications for the survival of the species," said Whale Research Program Director Phillip Clapham of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle to CNN.
Why and how the whales, which usually travel by group, reached the park's shores and got stranded is still unknown. The wildlife authorities are focused on returning them to the deep ocean or their natural habitat.
The Everglades is a region surrounded by sandbars and sand flats, which makes the situation very challenging to handle.
It is possible for the whales to swim during high tide and return to the deep ocean but Maise is not very positive because of the nature of the terrain and the very secluded spot. "Even in high tide, you're going to have a series of sandbars and sand flats," said Maise to CNN.
Usual rescue operations involve tools like cranes and flatbed trucks, however, because of the remote location of the park, such powerful equipment are not easily made available.
And since trying to safely drive the whales into the ocean did not work, rescuers have resorted to blocking the whales from the beach and encouraging them to swim back into the deep waters whenever they’re seen swimming near the shore.
