Pygmy Killer Whales put to death after beaching

Three pygmy killer whales beached themselves at North Myrtle Beach on Wednesday and were so sick they had to be put to death, officials said। Two male whales, which are about the size of dolphins, were euthanized Wednesday morning, said Wayne McFee, of the federal Marine Mammal Stranding Network.Workers kept a third whale, a female, alive through the morning as they searched for a fourth whale reported in the area that was thought to be her calf. The fourth was not found and the female was euthanized shortly after noon, said Brian Williamsen, a spokesman for the city of North Myrtle Beach.Pygmy whales are toothed whales about the size of dolphins — 7 to 8 feet long — and can weigh 400 to 600 pounds."They are still in the dolphin family, but the common name for them is pygmy killer whales," McFee said. "They are not your large whales."The strandings were reported about 6:30 a.m. along a 14-block stretch of beach, Williamsen said.

"They did everything they could," he said, adding that city and Department of Natural Resources workers put wet towels and poured water on the animals to try to keep them alive.They attempted to float the mammals back to the water on tarps but the whales were largely unresponsive and had to be euthanized, he said."It was in the best interest of the animals to do that because one they couldn't swim very well, and two it basically was bait for sharks. Sad as it might be, they had to make that call," Williamsen said.It won't be known why the whales were sick until necropsies are performed.Whales get sick for many of the same reasons as humans: viruses or bacterial infections, McFee said."This particular species tend to be in groups of 10 or more animals and they are very social," McFee said. "When one of them is sick the other ones tend to follow them in. Or there could be a number of them sick within the pod and they stick together and come into the beach."Pygmy killer whale strandings are not common, and McFee said it was only the third he could recall along the South Carolina coast.