First-Person Account: What It Takes to Keep a Stranded Whale Alive

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Two whales are stranded on the flats in Cudjoe Basin, May 5, 2011.

Photo Credit: Bob Care

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Pilot Whale 300 is currently in rehabilitation at Marine Mammal Conservancy.

Photo Credit: Alexandra Epple

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The pilot whales at a stabilization site in Cudjoe Key being supported by volunteers and staff.

Photo Credit: Bob Care

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Volunteers from the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo worked in shifts to try to rescue the stranded pilot whales off Cudjoe Key.

Photo Credit: Bob Care

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A volunteer with the Marine Mammal Conservancy responds to two stranded Pilot Whales May 5, 2011

Photo Credit: Bob Care

The Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo has rescued 450 animals in the past 20 years.

Key Largo – We stood waist deep in ocean water. It was June. The other volunteers in my group were shivering, but the cold wasn’t my problem.

The four of us were keeping a dangerously sick whale calf afloat, and my body was reacting immediately to the weight – 750 pounds.

My right hand, submerged and supporting the pilot whale’s belly, was shaking. My back muscles tensed. Keep the calf’s mouth and eyes below water and the blowhole above, we were instructed.

The calf’s first breath in my presence was a raspy struggle. She managed a deep second puff,  prompting green chunks of mucus from her spout. A salty odor of dirty seawater invaded my nose. Was that a cough? I searched her submerged face for a sign of distress, but her body relaxed into my hands.

We said little, just quiet conversations that were inaudible more than a foot away. Another instruction was to be as still as possible – in unpredictable surf.

This was the beginning of my 45-minute volunteer shift to keep a whale alive.

On May 5, the Marine Mammal Conservancy (MMC) in Key Largo learned that 24 pilot whales were beached off Cudjoe Key. Despite the emergency efforts of the staff and volunteers, only five whales survived that first day. Two males were released back into the ocean and three females were taken to a rehabilitation center.

The three females, ranging from 600 to 1,200 pounds, needed to be held 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep water out of their blowholes. The whales were given numbers – 300, 301 and 302. There’s no point in getting attached to these animals by giving them names. They’re too sick and the point is to get them well enough to return to the sea.

On my morning, as the volunteers held fast, MMC staff fed the whales and checked heart and respiratory rates. That this enormous and powerful creature was so debilitated that it was relying on my strength to keep it safe seemed upside down. The pilot whales’ nickname is “cheetah of the sea.” They can dive to 3,500 feet at a speed of 35 mph.

MMC, run by volunteers, has rescued 450 stranded animals in the past 20 years. This was week six for the pilot whales.

“The whole south Florida community has been incredible with their support. We’ve had people from all walks of life and all levels of education,” said Robert Lingenfelser, the MMC president who volunteered one night more than 20 years ago and never left.

Since volunteer attendance thins out on weekday nights, a midnight-to-4 a.m. shift offers lots of time with the animals. Plus, MMC provides full-body wetsuits for the dropping temperatures.

“A mass stranding can occur for thousands of reasons,” Lingenfelser said.

The Cudjoe Bay event is still under investigation. One theory is that military SONAR can disorient whales. They lose their pod and are possibly beached. Also, pilot whales travel in groups of 30 to 50 led by a matriarch. If the matriarch is sick, she may swim proximate to shore, endangering the pod in shallower waters.

It was almost noon now. Volunteers waited onshore, in half-zipped wetsuits, for the shift change. Before passing through the white lattice fence, they were briefed on their duties. Listen to the staff, stay away from the whales’ tails and do not block 301’s visual of 300.

The youngest and healthiest of the trio, 301, was attached to her surrogate mother. As the trainer ushered 301 into a back swimming pen, the whale lost sight of her “mom.” Her cry was like a siren. The baby’s frenzy seemed no different from a child fussing over being left with the sitter.

Postscript: On June 18, the MMC announced that my whale, 302, was experiencing kidney failure. She was euthanized. On July 22, whale 301 was moved to SeaWorld, where she is adapting to her new environment. No. 300 remains in Key Largo, but the MMC reported that since early July she has been swimming on her own – more than three months since the stranding.

How to Help

Marine Mammal Conservancy
102200 Overseas Highway
Key Largo

To volunteer, call 305-451-4774.
Volunteer shifts are four hours (midnight-4a.m., 4 a.m.-8 a.m., 8 a.m.-noon, noon-4 p.m., 4 p.m.-8 p.m. and 8 p.m.-midnight). Volunteers must bring a swimsuit, towel, water shoes and remove all jewelry. Nail polish must be removed and fingernails kept short.

To make a donation, visit marinemammalconservancy.org/category/fundraising.

You can also read more about how others have helped and continue to help rescue marine animals, and how you can get involved.

Sarah Elder is a freelance writer in Miami. Her reporting has been published in The Miami Herald, The Sun Sentinel and Grand Avenue News.