Two Dead Sperm Whales in One Week

In Florida, two dead sperm whales have been buried in one week. On May 4th, a young sperm whale was found dead after breaching in Key Largo. An autopsy was performed on the calf whale to determine the cause of death. According to Blair Mase, the calf died from being separated from its mother. Mase works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the marine mammal stranding coordinator. They are still waiting for the results to determine if the calf was carrying any disease.

A week later, on Tuesday, another sperm whale was found stranded. This time it was found about 15 miles from Key West. The whale was male and over 47 feet in length. When his autopsy was done, they found that the whale had a lot of human waste in his stomach. Some of the content included plastic bags. This probably prevented the sperm whale from eating. The cause of death was determined to be emaciation.

Blair Mase hopes that this will not become a trend. Usually, they get an average of two dead sperm whales in a year, not within a week. He does not believe that the two dead sperm whales are related incidents. In this case, can we blame anyone but humans for the whale’s death? We have filled their home (the ocean) with harmful waste. They consume this waste thinking it’s food and die. Let’s hope that we don’t see more sperm whales and other wildlife come to the same end because of our trash.

Is that a Whale?

Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales and predators that are considered endangered. They can swim as deep as 2,000 feet below sea level but go as deep as 10,000 feet. The whale’s head is filled with a spermaceti substance, hence the sperm whale’s name. These whales stay far away from shore. If you see them by the shore, please call 1-877-942-5343.