Two Pilot Whales Dead, Several Others Stranded Off Cudjoe Key

CUDJOE KEY (CBS4) - Marine mammal rescuers are working to save 16 pilot whales who were found stranded off the lower Florida Keys late Thursday afternoon. They were not able to save two others, officials confirmed to CBS4.

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Marine Mammal Conservancy located the whales in shallow Gulf of Mexico waters near Cudjoe Key, said Art Cooper, chairman of the MMC

The stranded whales were found in three separate locations. One is believed to be a calf.

The agencies worked quickly to gather the whales and move them to one location, for the safety of the responders and the animal.

Officials are trying to determine what caused the whales to strand themselves.

Cooper says there are no visible injuries to any of the whales.

NOAA spokesperson Karrie Carnes says pilot whales are native to the area and tend to strand themselves in groups when they are disoriented, confused, sick or injured.