MIAMI _ Nearly 100 rare false killer whales have stranded themselves off the remote coast of Southwest Florida in Everglades National Park, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Monday.
So far, 81 dead whiles have been counted. One was found alive and officials continue to search for another 13.
NOAA's stranding network first received a report of a whale spotted near Hog Key on Saturday. Hog Key sits amidst a remote network of islands off Southwest Florida, about 10 to 12 miles just south of Pavilion Key, a popular camping site along the Wilderness Waterway in Everglades National Park. Park officials have closed the area around the key and are asking boaters and planes to steer clear as a dozen organizations, including the U.S. Coast Guard and Mote Marine Laboratory, assist in the search.
False killer whales are a type of dolphin and closely resemble killer whales, but only grow to about 17 feet. They were thought to be extinct until a stranded whale was found in the late 19th century. Little is known about them in the wild.
In the early 1990s, a survey counted nearly 400 in the northern Gulf of Mexico with just over 1,000 estimated globally. But because the data is old, a 2005 NOAA report said too little information is available to determine the whale's status.
