Whale rescue effort continues in Florida's Everglades as pods move to deeper waters

 A pod of more than 30 stranded pilot whales have moved into deeper water. NBC's Mark Potter reports.   By Daniella Silva and Daniel Arkin, NBC News Pods of 35 stranded pilot whales were moving into deeper waters of Florida’s Everglades National Park, raising hopes for their survival, officials said Thursday.Three pods were located nine miles north of their original location on the Gulf of Mexico side of the park and moving offshore, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries official Blair Mase said at a Thursday afternoon teleconference, adding that the animals were in 12 feet of water by midafternoon.Mase said the whales may defy the odds and reach their normal deep-ocean range.By Thursday afternoon, 11 whales had been found dead and five others were unaccounted for, according to Mase.The whales had been stranded in a remote area of the park near Highland Beach, more than 20 miles from waters deep enough to support them.Earlier in the day, the U.S. Coast Guard had spotted two pods of whales “significantly north” in 12 feet of water swimming offshore near Seminole Point, Mase said.The movement was a “rare occasion” and an encouraging sign, Mase said. She said the organization was prepared for the worst as mass strandings are often difficult to reverse.Related: How whales lose their way: Toxins, tides and other troubles“They’re still out of their normal home range,” she said, adding that the whales may be suffering from dehydration and malnutrition."They need to be in deep water in order to feed. If we can’t get them out, they could begin to be starving themselves," said Linda Friar, spokesman for Everglades National Park.Citing a similar mass stranding in the mid-90s, Mase said, “We did have animals strand in the park area and they split up and groups were further south, but they all ended up stranding eventually.”As a part of the new rescue efforts, teams from NOAA, the National Park Service and state wildlife organizations used noises, including aluminum pipes and engines, in an attempt to steer the whales away from the shallows.“This particular area is extremely unique, it’s not herding them out of a lagoon,” Mase said early Thursday. “We’re herding them miles and miles. It’s very tricky.”A race to save a group of stranded pilot whales in a remote part of the Florida Everglades continues Thursday. NBC's Mark Potter reports.Mase added that the teams had upped both their assets and personnel to about 15 vessels and 35 personnel broken up into different teams. The teams will focus on necropsies, assessing the live animals and herding them to deeper water.Staff at Everglades National Park and marine mammal specialists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been desperately working to move the whales after they were discovered on Tuesday afternoon by a fishing guide.Compounding rescue efforts is the highly social nature of the whales."Part of the issue is that the animals are cohesive type of group," Friar added. "They're really resistant to leaving any members of their pod behind." It's unknown why the whales ended up in such shallow waters, said said Liz Stratton, a marine biodiversity specialist and assistant coordinator of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network."Sometimes, whales strand because they are sick. Sometimes they strand because they run out of water [or because of] parasites or other problems," Stratton told NBC News on Wednesday.Adding to the challenge: the presence of sharks.“There are sharks everywhere,” Mase said, adding that the sharks were reported to be feeding on dead whales, but not on the living.Tissue samples from some of the whales were being collected and sent to a lab to help determine the cause of the breaching.  Lynne Sladky / AP Officials in boats monitor the scene where dozens of pilot whales are stranded in shallow water in a remote area of Florida's Everglades National Park, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013. This story was originally published on Thu Dec 5, 2013 6:46 PM EST

Whale rescue continues in Florida Everglades

A race to save a group of pilot whales stranded in a remote part of Florida Everglades continues on Thursday. Mark Potter, NBC reports.Most of the 40 pilot whales stranded in the shallow waters of the Florida Everglades National Park is in motion, but their hopes of survival remain weak, officials said Thursday.Rescue efforts took a turn the Thursday morning when the surviving whales moved from its original location on the side of the Gulf of Mexico from the Park. The whales had been stranded in a remote area of nearby Highland Beach Park, more than 20 miles of water deep enough to support them."They have moved yesterday, it is a very fluid situation," said Blair Mase, fishing Southeast Marine Mammal stranding Coordinator for the national administration Oceanic and atmospheric, in a conference call.By late Thursday, three pods separated by a total of 30-35 whales were seen abroad and into deeper waters. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Coast Guard had seen two herds of whales significantly "to the North" of 12 feet of water swimming in high seas near point of Seminole, Mase, it said.The movement was a "rare" and an encouraging sign, Mase said. He said the Organization was prepared for the worst as mass strandings are often difficult to reverse."They are still outside its normal range of House," he said, adding that the whales may be suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.Citing a similar mass stranding in the mid-1990s, Mase said, "we have animals in the area of the Park of the filament and separated groups were more to the South, but all eventually ended up stranding".As part of the new efforts of rescue teams of NOAA, national parks and state wildlife organizations service would be using techniques of sound, including aluminum tubes and engines, in an attempt to direct the whales in the shallow waters."This area in particular is extremely unique, that it not is pastor of a lagoon," he said. "We are raising the miles and miles." It is very difficult".Mase said that teams had both uploaded his personal assets to about 15 vessels 35 staff and divided into different teams. The teams focus on necropsies, assessing live animals and grazing to deeper waters.Everglades National Park and staff specialists in marine mammals with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been desperately working to move the whales once they were discovered on Tuesday afternoon by a fishing guide. With the possibility that the whales have been in shallow waters even more, the capacity of the teams the whales into deeper waters is essential for their survival.On Wednesday, six whales had been found dead and four more had to be euthanasia."They need to be in deep waters to feed. If we fail to remove them, could begin to be themselves, dying of hunger,"said Linda Friar, a spokeswoman for Everglades National Park.It was not clear whether some more whales had died during the night or the condition of the missing members of the pods as the Coast Guard continued to assess the situation, said Friar.Lynne Sladký / APOfficials in boats monitor the scene where dozens of pilot whales are stranded in waters some deep in a remote area of the Florida Everglades National Park, Wednesday, December 04, 2013.Rescue efforts is the highly social nature of the whales."Part of the problem is that animals are cohesive type of group," added Friar. "They are really resistant to any member of his sheath back."He said that it is unknown by the whales ended up in these shallow waters, said Liz Stratton, a specialist in biodiversity marina and Assistant Coordinator of the marine mammal stranding network."Sometimes, the whales strand because you are sick." Sometimes they strand because they run out of water [or] pests or other problems, "Stratton told NBC News on Wednesday."He added that the challenge: the presence of sharks."There are sharks everywhere," said Mase, adding that sharks were reported to feed dead whales, but not in life.Tissue samples from some of the whales were collected and sent to a laboratory to help determine the cause of the rupture.Mase said that the rescue teams will continue to work to save the remaining whales and learn what he could about the nature of the stranding of those who died."We are doing our best to do what we can but ultimately knowing what happens with these whales, they are probably committed and the result may not be good," said Mase.This story was originally posted on Thu 05 December 2013 8:48 AM EST