KIHEI (MAUI), HI -- Some quick action helped save the lives of a mother pygmy sperm whale and her calf, found stranded on Kamaole II Beach in Kihei early this morning.
Around 6:45 a.m., beachgoers noticed the two stranded animals. Greg Monk, a diver and licensed boat captain for Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures and former Pacific Whale Foundation employee, was enjoying a cup of coffee at the coffee stand across the street when he overheard someone telling a police officer about the whales on the beach. Monk ran to the beach and found a group of people looking at and photographing the two beached whales. He identified the animals as pygmy sperm whales.
Monk then encouraged the onlookers to help him push the whales into the water.
According to Monk, people were initially afraid to touch the animals. "I asked people to come help me push the mother in, but told them to be careful, because as I told them, 'she's got teeth,'" he recalls.
He estimated that the mother weighed 300 to 400 pounds, and was 6 to 7 feet long.
Monk picked up the calf and carried it into the water. He estimates that it weighed about 40 - 60 pounds and notes that it was so young that the stump of its umbilical cord was still attached.
After being pushed into the water, the mom immediately made a half circle and swam back onto the beach, followed by the baby. Monk had to push out the mother and carry out the calf two more times before both animals stayed in the water.
"We received the call at Pacific Whale Foundation at 6:45 a.m., alerting us about the stranding, and I rushed right over," said Greg Kaufman, President and Founder of Pacific Whale Foundation. "Mr. Monk acted quickly to get the animals back into the water."
"Whales are primarily swimmers and beachings can have a devastating effect on their internal organs," Kaufman notes. "We were lucky the animals seemed to reorient themselves and return to sea."
Kaufman recalls that there was a sighting reported to Pacific Whale Foundation by some visitors at Papawai Point yesterday, who said they saw a mother and calf pair of "pilot whales" swimming near the shore.
"This is likely the same pair," he said. "When deep water cetaceans are distressed, they can sometime be seen lingering near shore where fewer predators are found."
"In 1986 we had six false killer whales who lingered outside of our offices in the shallow water at Kealia Beach for nearly a month, before one died and the others swam away," he noted.
"While I am hopeful the animals have returned to deep waters, I remain only cautiously optimistic and am fully prepared for the animals to re-beach themselves," Kaufman said. "Generally when toothed animals come ashore, they are not in good shape."
Pygmy sperm whales are typically found in Hawaii's deep offshore waters. Their backs are dark gray, fading to a paler gray with a distinct pink tinge below. Between the eye and flipper there is often a white or gray bracket shaped mark; also a pale marking is sometimes present anterior of the eye. The flippers are short and wide, and the dorsal fin is very falcate (curved) and positioned in the middle of the body.
"This is the third marine mammal stranding in Kihei since April, which is unusually high," says Kaufman. "Although about 80% of our strandings on Maui occur in the Kihei/Maalaea area, the recent spate is more than we would normally expect."
"Strandings of odontocetes, toothed whales and dolphins, seem to be more common in the July - September period, most likely due to the south summer swell pushing the animals inshore," he notes.
Kaufman advises that anyone seeing stranded marine mammals should call the National Marine Fisheries Service at 1-800-853-1964, State of Hawaii Stranding Coordinator Margaret Dupree at 808-973-2935, the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources at 243-5294, or the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary at 879-2818 or Pacific Whale Foundation 879-8811.
"While there is now a formal State Stranding Network in Hawaii, and the National Marine Fisheries Service has a hot line number to report strandings, the first call for help typically comes in on the phone lines of the Pacific Whale Foundation -- which are staffed seven days per week, every day of the year, from 5:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.," he notes.
"We contact all the proper state and federal authorities, and also call our staff of 70 employees, to ask them to help out if they can," says Kaufman. "At times, a stranding rescue involves holding an animal afloat in water for hours or even overnight."
Pacific Whale Foundation's Wild Dolphin Project, a research study now in its 7th year was originally launched with the goal of learning more about the wild spinner dolphins off the coasts of Maui and Lana'i. The project has since expanded over the years to include all species of odontocetes, or toothed whales and dolphins. Included among odontocetes are pygmy sperm whales, false killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, melon-headed whales, rough-toothed dolphins and spotted dolphins.
The mission of Pacific Whale Foundation, Pacific Whale Foundation's Eco-Adventures and Pacific Whale Foundation's Marine Resource Centers is to inspire and promote appreciation, understanding and protection of whales, dolphins, coral reefs and our planet's oceans. This is accomplished through public environmental education, by supporting and conducting responsible marine research, and by addressing marine conservation issues through activism and education. To learn more, visit www.pacificwhale.org or call 1-800-942-5311. |
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