Pilot Whales beach themselves in the Keys

Sadly, there were twenty Pilot Whales that beached themselves off Cudjoe Key. Most of them didn't survive long enough to transport to a secure location. Rescue teams worked around the clock to save the twelve they were able to move. Five more died in the days that followed. Two males were released the other day and they still have five more in moderate health. Pilot Whales are notorious for beaching themselves, though the reasons are far from clear. Often, rescuer's will find that the alpha is ill and doesn't want to continue to exert energy in swimming, so it will beach itself to rest. The other whales in the pod rely on this whale to guide the pod, so when the alpha (in Pilot Whales, the alpha is a female) beaches herself the others will follow suit. If you simply push the whale back into deeper water, it will turn around and beach itself again and again. Eventually, it's own weight will become it worst  enemy, crushing its ribcage and internal organs. In addition, fluid will start to accumulate in it lungs and it can develop pneumonia.

There are other hypothesizes that they will strand themselves due to geomagnetic anomalies, government sonar testing, getting trapped in shallow water - however ultimately researchers really don't know the cause the majority of the time.  

Pilot Whales are actually members of the dolphin family, similar to Orca's. They can get as long at twenty feet, and weigh up to three tons. Cradling one made me incredibly aware of the power and strength they possess. Their body is firm but fragile and they have a distinct sweet smell to them.

We took a 11pm to 4am shift. We donned wetsuits and spent the night holding up these massive mammals, checking their vitals, preventing water from entering their blowholes, keeping their skin wet and regulating their temperature. We could feel their heart beat, and the spray from every breath they took. When they'd communicate with one another,  we could hear their clicks and pulses and could feel the vibrations of the clicks from their sonar. Both of us were completely enraptured by our experience.

 

We both plan on continuing out volunteering with the Marine Mammal Conservancy and we're keeping tabs on the welfare of the remaining Pilot's.