Bid to save pilot whales stranded in shallow waters in Florida Everglades

Rescuers try to herd group back to sea from remote area about 20 miles from their usual habitat after ten other whales died

theguardian.com, Associated Press in Everglades national park, Thursday 5 December 2013

A group of short-finned pilot whales stranded in shallow waters in Everglades
national park, Florida. Photograph: Handout/Reuters

Wildlife workers in boats have been struggling to coax more than 40 pilot whales out of dangerous shallow waters in Florida's Everglades national park, hoping to spare them the fate of 10 others that have already died.

Six of the whales were found dead, and four others had to be put down on Wednesday, said Blair Mase, co-ordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine mammal stranding network. At least three could be seen on the beach, out of the water.

The whales are stranded in a remote area near Highland Beach, the western boundary of the park and about 20 miles east of where they normally live. It takes more than an hour to reach the spot from the nearest boat ramp and there is no mobile phone reception, complicating rescue efforts.

"We want to set the expectation low, because the challenges are very, very difficult," Mase said.

Park spokeswoman Linda Friar said rescuers were trying to surround the whales, which were in roughly three feet of salt water about 75 feet (22 metres) from shore, and herd them back to sea."They are not co-operating," Friar said.

Earlier in the day, rescuers had also tried to nudge the whales out to sea, with no success.

The short-finned pilot whales typically live in very deep water. Even if rescuers were able to begin nudging the 41 remaining whales out to sea, Mase said they would encounter a series of sandbars and patches of shallow water along the way.

This particular whale species is also known for its close-knit social groups, meaning if one whale gets stuck or stays behind, the others are likely to stay behind or even beach themselves as well.

"It would be very difficult for the whales to navigate out on their own," Mase said.

Federal officials were notified about the whales around 4pm on Tuesday. Because of the remote location, rescuers were unable to access the site before dark. They arrived on Wednesday morning and discovered 45 whales still alive.

"There were some that were very compromised and in very poor condition," Mase said.

Four were put down with sedatives, and more could be put down on Thursday if their condition deteriorates, Mase said. She described the remaining whales as swimming and mobile, but said scientists don't know how long they have been out of the deep, colder water they are accustomed to and could be affected by secondary consequences, such as dehydration. "I don't think we have a lot of time," Mase said.

Autopsies were being done on Wednesday on the dead whales. Scientists will look for disease or other signs to indicate how they got stuck in the shallow Everglades waters.

As workers tried to coax the animals to deeper water, at least one could be seen a few feet from shore floating upside down with its head bobbing up and down. Three to four more could be seen on the beach bleeding.

Twenty-two pilot whales became stranded in Florida's Avalon state park in Fort Pierce in 2012. Residents, state and national officials attempted to rescue them, but only five could be saved.

"It's not uncommon," Friar said. "But it's not something that happens a lot."

Mase said NOAA was consulting with experts in different counties with experience in herding whales to see if there were other options, but said she was not optimistic.

"The outlook ultimately does not look good," she said.

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Kryon Q&A

Question (2002): Dear Kryon, A friend and I are meditating on the recent shark attacks and feel that it has to do with the planetary changes. We just can’t understand why they have become aggressive. What is the message the sharks are bringing? Why is this happening?

—Thank you,

Maryann

Answer: Indeed there are changes with the environment and also with biology regarding the 12-year grid change. I will first give you what was happening in general: What you are seeing are mammals, amphibians, insects, and even fish that are in areas that are new to them. Every life-form that migrates is effected by magnetics. All life forms that follows certain feeding scenarios and are “following the food” have the potential to be affected. This is due to the changing of the magnetic ley lines of the earth as we have stated before.

The areas where you can see in the ocean most clearly are within those migration patterns closest to the land. Where the ocean interfaces with the land, there are challenges for all these creatures for at least one of their generations. Whales will beach themselves by following old magnetics headings that now “drive” them into peninsula’s and other land areas that were marginally on the edge of their old paths. Birds, amphibians, and insects will be seen to do odd things for awhile.

So these shark fish may be in greater numbers in these coastal areas than in the past, but the increased aggressive behavior was actually something else: There was a tremendous “release” of energy due to the Sept. 11 event. Much like the energy of earthquakes and other earth movement, much of the environment “feels it” coming. We have spoken about how the Sept. 11 event was not a surprise to the earth. [See Lee’s article “Did Kryon give us hints”] So, some of the new actions of these fish were due to an actual energy buildup of coming events... of which you now understand.

If you are paying attention, therefore, you might ask, “Does this mean that Human consciousness issues affect the actual earth?” Yes they do! Finally you may begin to see how global consciousness is tied into the environment, and even to basic physics and reality. They are not separate, and never were. The indigenous knew it, and now the “modern” world is beginning to wonder.

Blessed is the Human Being who understands that what they think, do, and intend, actually drives the reality of the dirt of the planet!