It’s been a whale of a week for wildlife news, and now the Clearwater Marine Aquarium has kick-started the weekend with one more dispatch regarding two of the five pilot whales rescued on Redington Beach on Monday.
As you’ll recall, three of the whales assisted by the Coast Guard, scientists and hundreds of volunteers were tagged and immediately guided back to deeper waters, but a pair was taken to a Tarpon Springs rehab center to continue their recovery.
This morning, the aquarium transported the two remaining whales to Anclote River Park where they were released back into the Gulf of Mexico. BN9 said that the Clearwater Marine Aquarium made the decision to release the whales late Wednesday night after observing the path of the three other whales which are continuing to head away from the coast.
Pilot whales do not typically travel in the Gulf of Mexico, and University of Florida professor of marine biology Mike Walsh told the Tampa Bay Times that something seemed amiss. Monday’s separation of the whales may have been the best way to ensure the whales don’t return.
“It could be that one whale is sick and beached and the others followed,” he said, “or they could all be sick.”
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This article appears in Aug 1-8, 2019.