A minimum four pilot whales perished Monday when attempting to move in extremely shallow waters News-Press reported Tuesday.
The whales are on their way to the Florida Wildlife Research Institute's research lab for necropsy tests television station CBS television affiliate WTSP serving Tampa Bay and Sarasota reported.
"The outlook for the animals that are here in the area is not good," Denise Boyd, a research associate for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told the News-Press. "This is really sad to see this going on," Boyd told The News-Press. "I just want them to save as many as they can," Boyd told the News-Press.
Officials were out looking for 23 to 30 other pilot whales around Marco Pass Monday, which were pin Naples's Gordon Pass Sunday the News-Press reported.
Officials found two laying on a sandbar NBC-2 reported or a piece of land above the surface of the water according to the definition in Merriam Webster's online dictionary. The rest attempted to navigate eight to 12 feet of water, a difference from the whale's normal 30 miles surroundings NBC-2 reported.
"Pilot whales are normally very playful and swimming around," Lindsey, a marine biologist at Fish Tale Marina in Fort Myers Fla. told the News Press. "These weren't swimming. They stayed in the same area for an hour. They were just kind of floating on top of the water, not feeding. It looked like a funeral," Shafer told the News Press. "It was like they were waiting for it to die. It was sad. It's very expensive to move them," Shafer told the News Press. "Usually, they don't move it unless there's a facility nearby."
"I've never seen anything like this," Swan Fredrickson, a Naples, Fla. resident told the News Press. "It's sad. Very sad."
"Yesterday I stuck the front of the boat out to see what the sea conditions were, at about quarter 11 o'clock and just north of the pass, a few hundred yards, there were three kayakers and about 20-25 black fins all around them, and that was unusual," Frederickson told the News Press.
