Florida tourists band together to try to save beached Pygmy Sperm Whale in Walton County
Annie Blanks- A 10- to 12-foot Sper Pygmy Whale was found beached along County Road 30A.
- Authorities tried to save the whale but eventually had to humanely euthanize the animal.
Tourists, beach volunteers and marine biologists came together to try and save a beached whale in Blue Mountain Beach in south Walton County on Wednesday, but the whale ultimately had to be humanely euthanized and carried away for a necropsy.
Laurie Reichenbach, director of the Volunteer Beach Ambassador Program for Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles, said one of her ambassadors got a call from Gulf World Marine Institute on Wednesday about a stranded whale on the popular tourist beach located along County Road 30A.
Reichenbach was on scene within 15 minutes and discovered the 10- to 12-foot creature, later identified as a Sperm Pygmy Whale, on a sandbar close to the shore being held stable by five tourists.
"We had a great group of visiting tourists who were keeping the whale stable in the water so that she wasn't rolling right or left," Reichenbach said. "They kept her blowhole clear and put a towel over her to keep her moist."
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Reichenbach coordinated the whale's care via phone with a marine biologist as a marine mammal stranding team from Gulf World Marine Institute in Panama City Beach and the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge on Okaloosa Island made their way to the scene. Beach ambassadors kept the crowd at bay and helped to minimize the stress on the sick animal.
At one point, the waves coming in were causing the men holding the whale to rock back and forth, so Reichenbach recruited a group of tourists who were crowded at a distance observing to form a line behind the whale.
"I got a group of adults to stand shoulder to shoulder in the water just to diffuse the waves as much as we could, so perhaps it wouldn't be as strong coming in," Reichenbach said. "It seemed to be a slight help, but those volunteers took care, and they did their job so well."
Trying to save the whale
Once the marine mammal stranding team and marine biologists arrived, they took over care of the whale. Secret Holmes, director of Gulf World Marine Institute, was in charge of administering medical care to the whale. She and representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration eventually determined the whale was too sick to survive further medical care and would need to be sedated and humanely euthanized on the spot.
Lauren Albrittain, stranding coordinator with Gulf World Marine Institute, said it wasn't immediately clear what led to the whale's illness.
"The animal was not in good body condition, but unfortunately, any time we have a stranded marine mammal, we usually can't tell the immediate cause of the stranding on site," Albrittain said. "It did have some injuries externally, but again, it's not clear as to when those were received."
After the whale had passed, which was about four to five hours after it was initially discovered on the beach, a team of about 10 tourists worked to load the 700-pound whale onto the back of an Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge truck. It was taken to the refuge on Okaloosa Island for a necropsy.
Stormy Andersen, executive director of the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge, said the necropsy was completed at around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
"We don't have any preliminary necropsy reports yet, but the external exam didn't show any external cause of death," Andersen said. "The animal was obviously ill or injured, and other sea life had started to take advantage of it."
Pygmy Sperm Whales aren't commonly seen in Northwest Florida and are typically offshore deepwater creatures.
More:What to do if you see a stranded animal on the beach in Florida
Tourists, beach ambassadors did a 'fabulous' job
Despite happening on a crowded tourist beach, Reichenbach, Andersen and Albrittain said the group of beachgoers were respectful of the animal and attentive to authorities' instructions, which is critical when encountering any stranded marine mammal on the beach.
"The crowd was very well disciplined and they were interested in the information, but they weren't rowdy and they weren't trying to get in the way," Reichenbach said.
Albrittain said the most important thing to do if you spot a beached marine mammal is, first and foremost, do not try and push the animal back into the water.
"The most important thing is to call local authorities and not push the animal back because that animal is likely in distress," Albrittain said. "Yesterday was just another great example of why it's so wonderful to have multiple organizations on the Emerald Coast working together like this."
Andersen said the Beach Ambassador program in Walton County, led by Reichenbach, was critical in the early moments before authorities arrived on scene.
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"Fortunately, the South Walton Beach Ambassadors were there and they were doing a fabulous job with crowd control before we got there," Andersen said. "They did everything we asked them to do about caring for the whale properly, and I can't express how important that is because, in the past, there have been cases where people just don't listen to the experts and that negatively impacts the critter."
Andersen said while it was sad that the animal had to be euthanized, it was a learning for experience for several people on the beach that day, and hopefully, the necropsy will give experts a more in-depth look at the whale's death.
"It's very emotional to have to go through this," she said. "I don't think our team could have done a better job and the people that responded all listened to us. That critter was treated as humanely as possible."
Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.