REDINGTON BEACH, Fla. — A pod of five pilot whales, found stranded on Redington Beach in the Gulf of Mexico Monday morning, were rescued after beachgoers, scientists and the U.S. Coast Guard teamed up to save the mammals.
After a call about the whales to 911 early Monday, biologists and veterinarians with the Clearwater Aquarium, scientists, Coast Guard officers and volunteers converged on the scene where the whales were struggling in the shallow surf, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Rescuers erected tents over the animals to shield them from the sun and assessed their conditions.
"We prioritize the animals over anything else, so that's why you see the tents, to avoid the animals getting sunburned," Clearwater Marine Aquarium spokesperson Carlee Wendell told WTVT-TV.
By midafternoon, scientists determined that three larger whales were well enough to be taken back out to sea and the two smaller whales could be tested and treated at the aquarium's rehabilitation center, WTVT reported.
It took dozens of people, including beach visitors and volunteers who showed up to help, to get the whales into slings and hoist them onto boats and into transport vehicles, the Times reported.
The three larger whales were tagged with satellite tracking transponders and released several miles offshore into deeper water, according to WTVT.
Wendell told the Times it’s very rare for an entire pod of pilot whales, usually 20 to 90 animals, to strand themselves and scientists don’t know what drove the five animals into the shallows Monday.
“Something is obviously wrong here. It could be that one whale is sick and beached and the others followed, or they could all be sick,” she said.
The whales travel in groups, or pods, and usually swim at least 100 miles offshore, but when at least one is in distress and beaches itself, others follow, according to the American Cetacean Society.
Almost 50 pilot whales beached themselves off the Georgia coast a few weeks ago and three died.