The pygmy killer whale, which is rarely seen in the shallow waters around the Florida Keys, was found injured, sick and stranded just off the archipelago’s coast, a local marine mammal conservation group said. This was announced by the Marine Mammal Conservation Organization.
Small gray whales are found in tropical and subtropical waters, but they typically swim from depths of 1,600 feet to 6,500 feet, according to Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responders, the federally recognized whale rescue group that tried to save the animals. They live in waters deeper than 100 feet.
Around noon, members of the group responded to Long Key State Park in the Middle Keys for reports of a stranded dolphin measuring 4 to 5 feet long. But when scientists arrived, they discovered it was a 5.5-foot-long pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata), according to a Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder news release.
The group said the man was a “subadult,” meaning he had not yet reached full adulthood.
“This species was last seen in the Florida Keys in the early 1990s, when we successfully rescued, rehabilitated, and released a pair of these animals in Key Largo.” said Art Cooper, director of operations. “This is by no means a common occurrence.”
When scientists arrived, the whale was struggling in shallow tidal flats and was recovering from malnutrition, difficulty breathing and a recent shark bite, said Juli Goldstein, a veterinarian with the group. It is said that there were signs that his health condition was poor.
After consulting with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, Dolphins Plus determined the most humane course of action was to euthanize the whale.
“The decision to euthanize an animal is never an easy one, but after a thorough clinical evaluation, it became clear that ending this whale’s suffering was the only humane option,” Goldstein said. said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that because little is known about the reproductive biology of pygmy killer whales, so is the estimated lifespan of the species. Whales reach an average length of 6 feet 5 inches as adults, and can grow up to 8 feet 5 inches, the agency said.
Dolphins Plus stranding investigator Steve McCulloch added that the National Marine Fisheries Service is conducting a necropsy on the whale at its pathology lab in Key Biscayne to determine the cause of death and the circumstances that led to the stranding. .
“Ultimately, as stewards of ocean and human health, marine mammals reflect the state of our shared marine environment,” McCulloch said in a statement. “We swim in the same water and sometimes eat the same fish.”
Dolphins Plus is in the process of raising funds and obtaining appropriate permits to open a marine mammal rehabilitation hospital in the Keys to deal with future strandings. The group has secured a site in Islamorada in the Upper Keys with a pool large enough to rehabilitate marine mammals, but says it still has to overcome bureaucratic and financial hurdles before it can open.
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The group will hold a fundraising brunch for the project at the Oasis, 82703 Old Highway, on Sunday, Feb. 2, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The last time the Keys had a whale and dolphin rehabilitation facility was in the 2010s. It was run by an organization called the Marine Mammal Conservation Society. However, increasing building code violations and fines from Monroe County proved too much for the Key Largo-based group to sustain operations, and marine mammal rehabilitation was finally completed at the facility at mile marker 102.4. It was in 2011.
Cooper, one of the founders of the marine mammal conservation organization Dolphins Plus, said even if a rehabilitation facility existed in the Keys, the pygmy killer whale likely wouldn’t have been saved.
“The worst part of our job is having to euthanize animals, especially when they could have been rehabilitated and released back into the wild,” Cooper said in a statement. “Due to its young age and dependence on its mother for food, this animal was likely not a suitable candidate for rehabilitation.”
