A Whale of a Tale

It’s June 7th, at 10:41 AM and the Dolphin Explorer is on an excursion with a group of youngsters known as “The Ambassadors of the Environment” who are hosted by Marco Island Academy in conjunction with the Cousteau Ocean Future’s Society. The phone rings and Officer Josh Ferris is looking at what appears to be a dolphin acting strangely in Factory Bay. I tell him that we will be there shortly to check it out.

I alert the students that we will be diverting from our normal routine to see what’s going on with this mammal. As we approach the area, we see a dark, shadowy figure floating at the surface, moving very slowly. With camera in hand, I begin taking photos and Captain Eddie takes video at the same time. There is something different in the features of this mammal and we realize it is not a dolphin at all!

No rostrum (bottled nose) is seen, and we think that it might be a shark. On second glance we notice that the tail is not a shark’s fin, but that of an animal of the cetacean order. Cetaceans include whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Simultaneously Captain Eddie and I exclaim that this is a whale!

Our first thoughts are that it might be a Pilot Whale. They have been seen in recent years close to the Gulf shores. But there are several species of whales in the Gulf of Mexico, and we were not positive what species was here.  This whale was not acting normal, by any means, just lethargically circling and staying near the water’s surface. It was time to take action.

I called my main contact at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and gave her all the information that I had on hand. Captain Eddie texted her a video of the whale and its features. Luckily there was a sheriff’s boat nearby and they agreed to stay by the whale until assistance arrived. The wheels were in motion.

When we returned to the marina at 12:20 PM there were now three boats guarding the whale, directing boat traffic from its location. Our Marine Biologist, James, and I stayed until 2:15 PM and watched several attempts by the FWC crew that were now on scene as they tried to secure the whale for transportation to a facility that might help save its life. This whale was not cooperating and proved to be elusive so the attempts were suspended until additional professional help would arrive.

Eventually, rescue attempts resumed, and the whale was tranquilized. Almost immediately it took off, heading for the Marco River and all personnel lost track of its location. It was not seen to resurface again, and assumptions were that it might have drowned. It was reported deceased on the news but the carcass was not recovered.

I received a call from FWC on the morning of June 8th asking us to be on the lookout for the whale carcass while we were on the water. Nothing was found in the morning hours by our crew. We will update you when there is more information.

Regarding the type of whale, when FWC was on the water in the early afternoon of June 7th, their team determined that this might be a Pygmy Sperm Whale or a Dwarf Sperm Whale. Both are common species in the Gulf of Mexico and share similar features. It wasn’t until 1966 that the Dwarf species was differentiated from the Pygmy type because they are so similar. The Dwarf Sperm Whale lives in temperate and tropical seas so it might be more likely to see them in our area. Time will truly tell exactly what type of whale was in the Marco Island area.

Dwarf Sperm Whales are suction feeders that mainly eat squid. Its pod size will typically range from one to four members, so seeing one of these by itself might not be uncommon. 

Stay tuned for updates regarding the outcome. Hopefully, we will discover exactly which species it was and possibly how it got here. It is very rare to see any type of whale this close to shore, much less in a marina basin setting. We will update you as more information evolves.