Several whales were found idling on the shores of Florida's Everglades National Park Tuesday, Reuters reported Thursday.
"Pilot whales are common stranders. They tend to do this," Linda Friar, park spokeswoman told Retuers. "When rescued they tend to re-beach themselves. This area of the park is probably the most challenging for something like this. When the tide goes out, there's hundreds of yards of very shallow shoals."
Officials found the 51 short-finned pilot whales clinging to life along the shores of the national landmark. Eleven perished, with another five disappearing throughout the night. Sharks have also been feasting on the whale's dead bodies. These range in age, and sex.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the whales who were found dead did not have anything in their stomachs, while the whales that were gone Thursday morning might have gone underwater.
"A lot of people may have good intentions of helping them and do more harm than good," Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss told Reuters.
National Park Service officials found three different groups of 35 whales across 1,000 yards or four nautical miles around the Seminole Point, and Plover Key area, which sits nine miles to the north of where officials initially found the whale species.
The mission to save the animals have increased from 25 to 35 scientists, and stranding specialists. Officials are only able to get to the whales by boat, which creates a safety concern for humans when in the deep ocean water. Officials used 15 boats to direct the whales to greater depths
Tuesday's news is one of the latest reports since a dead false killer whale was found with five fish hooks, and other species in Hawaii in October according to the Associated Press.
Scientists found the fishing tools in the male dolphin's stomach when performing a necropsy or autopsy performed on an animal to determine how it perished.
