Pilot Whales Stranded Off Florida Coast A Mystery (VIDEO)

CUDJOE KEY, Fla. — Marine mammal rescuers are responding to a mass stranding of pilot whales off the lower Florida Keys. (Scroll down for video.)

Marine Mammal Conservancy chairman Art Cooper said Thursday evening that at least 15 pilot whales are in three separate areas in shallow Gulf of Mexico waters near Cudjoe Key. One is believed to be a calf.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and MMC also are helping.

Cooper says responders are trying to gather the whales and move them to one location. He says it's not known why the whales stranded, adding that there are no visible injuries to the marine mammals.

Cooper says he had requested additional personnel support and resources from other organizations.
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Online: Marine Mammal Conservancy, http://www.marinemammalconservancy.org

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Comments

[GFH1]

08:03 PM on 05/16/2011

According to wikipedia,
"Every year up to 2,000 animals (Whales) beach themselves." (1991)
Good NGS 2008 video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbM6_AzD5nI
It's just as likely they couldn't stand being in the water with Bin Laden.

[European1919]

03:59 AM on 05/12/2011

Even the best pilots get confused by errant signals - such as sonar from subs and other vessels.

[Lindstr7]

12:32 PM on 05/12/2011

and ingesting giant globs of oil with their plankton.....yum.

[European1919]

12:57 AM on 05/13/2011

YUCK! I reckon a gallon of whale puke on the desk of each oil bigwig could be a great idea LOL

[Edy Williams]

09:28 PM on 05/10/2011

This Proves People LOVE our whales.Rescuers going to their aid. Thank You guys. & hope the Japanese whale ships as they shoot them down with their bullets take note of the ill will that causes.

[Max Shaw]

05:01 PM on 05/10/2011

:( This is absolutely terrible!! Its either mass animals deaths washing up on the shore, or falling out of the sky these days...These are some strange times indeed!

[Zog Wee]

11:35 AM on 05/09/2011

Wow that is just so sad. Seems like Mother Nature is clearly not happy about something.
totally-anon.at.tc

[Lindstr7]

12:33 PM on 05/12/2011

Yeah, she's pissed off at BP so she's letting it out on the whales.

[iam99]

10:12 PM on 05/08/2011

These whales have successfully left their horribly fouled home.
Very sadly it may not be long before they are no longer with us, like so many others.

[blasterofparis]

09:06 PM on 05/08/2011

There were whales at the dawn of time? Amazing. Whats more amazing is that some folks use the fact that whales naturally beach to condone massive oil spill disasters. Just like they use the fact that earth has natural warming periods to condone living as filthy and wasteful as we possibly can.

[Lindstr7]

12:34 PM on 05/12/2011

Amazing. Fanned.

[Andrew Harvey]

08:30 PM on 05/08/2011

Whales have been beaching themselves since the dawn of time. But of course, this is the Huffington Post, where such activity MUST be a result of something BP/Exxon/Chevron did.

[lemuria1]

11:49 PM on 05/08/2011

Crazy talk!

[Jeremyewilliams]

09:06 AM on 05/08/2011

Very disheartening.

[butchcliff]

07:09 AM on 05/08/2011

Is it the navy using more sonar that confuses the whales? or the oil spill
Maybe both.. combined. So sad

[YankeeCanuck]

03:32 AM on 05/08/2011

Mysterious? There's nothing mysterious about sick whales after a massive, months-long oil gusher in the Gulf. Tragic, yes. Mysterious, no.

[NoSillyName]

07:23 PM on 05/07/2011

Oh, this is so sad. Two of them have been taken out to deep sea. So many volunteers holding up those that are too weak and starving to surface for breath. These stories are heartbreaking.

[patman77]

07:21 PM on 05/07/2011

trying to get some untainted,oil,corexit free air. god help us all. we are animals dependent on this planets resources.

[Lonesome Tears]

10:59 AM on 05/07/2011

I MATTER DOT ORG
The world's YOUTH speak out
Campaign starts today 7th through 14th

[demdame1]

08:17 AM on 05/07/2011

Gulf of Mexico--newest addition to the national Energy Sacrifice Zone. We have allowed BP to poison our waters--mammals dying first, humans second. BP will get away with this scott free and the nations attention will not be on this. We have given them the shot gun and supplied the shells.

[NoSillyName]

07:25 PM on 05/07/2011

So horrible, it's almost unimaginable. As goes the Ecosystem, so goes US, eventually.