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Whale Likely Will Be Euthanized

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The Associated Press

Published: January 1, 2008

Updated: 12/31/2007 10:46 pm

PALMETTO - A 25- to 30-foot sperm whale that has been stuck in shallow water near the mouth of Tampa Bay likely will have to be euthanized, officials said Monday.

The whale has drifted from Pinellas County to waters near Terra Ceia Bay but showed no signs of going out to deeper waters, said Nadine Slimak, a spokeswoman with the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

Officials were able to give the whale a sedative on Monday and determined it had no obvious injuries. When it gets closer to the coast, biologists will euthanize the whale, which is likely an older juvenile, Slimak said.

That decision could be overturned if the whale swims toward deeper waters, but Slimak said its condition seems to be declining. At one point on Sunday, it became stuck on a sandbar, and has remained in waters as shallow as four feet deep, Slimak said.

Sperm whales are the most common type of large whales found in the Gulf of Mexico, but they tend to stay farther out to sea. Sightings near the Florida coast are rare, and are usually an indication the animal is in distress.

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