Nearly 100 Whales Stranded Off Coast Of SW Florida

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) --  Nearly one hundred rare false killer whales were stranded off a remote coast of Southwest Florida.

Of the 95 false killer whales stranded, 81 had died by Monday, NOAA announced.

The whales were stranded off Hog Key in Everglades National Park over the weekend.

According to our news partners at the Miami Herald, one was found alive and the search continues for another 13.

NOAA's stranding network first got the report of a whale spotted near Hog Key on Saturday.

Park officials have closed down the area and are asking boaters and planes to stay away from the area as a dozen organizations search for the missing whales.

False killer whales grow to be about 17 feet. They were thought to be extinct until a stranded whale was found in the late 19th century. Not much is known of them in the wild.

Back in the 1990s, a survey counted almost 400 in the northern Gulf of Mexico with about 1,000 estimated globally. NOAA says there is too little information available to determine the whale's status.

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