PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Ponte Vedra Beach walkers found a Pygmy Sperm Whale up close and personal Thursday morning as it washed up onshore.
“You never know what you’re going to find on the beach when you go for a walk,” said Ponte Vedra resident Marinus Vanooyen.
The whale drew a small crowd to the normally quiet beach.
“Everybody that walks by is fascinated,” said Nancy Condron.
Condron usually helps tape off sea turtle nests in the area, but was asked to do a larger job Thursday.
“When I came out to see it, they asked if I could go get some turtle stakes and stake it out until they got back,” Condron said.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a call reporting the whale around 7:15 a.m. Thursday. Personnel said when they arrived to the scene, the whale was not alive.
Marine Biologist Kyanna Tamborini said these whales are not common in the area.
“I haven’t seen a Kogia here in Florida,” Tamborini said.
Tamborini said it’s a mystery as to what brought the whale to shore.
“This animal is an elusive species,” Tamborini said. “We don’t see it very often. It’s a deep-diving species offshore.”
Without any signs of trauma, Tamborini said there are many ways the whale could have died.
“A virus, or potentially something with its inner ear,” Tamborini said. “Since these animals are deep divers, when they come to the surface too quickly, that can be detrimental.”
The only way to tell is by performing a necropsy, or an animal autopsy, at a nearby lab.
At about 14 feet long and hundreds of pounds, the whale was not easy to get off the beach.
It took a tractor, a tarp, strong ropes and chains to be able to transport the whale to a lab.
“We don’t see these animals very often. So when we have these opportunities to collect data, that is our job,” Tamborini said.
That data could help other Pygmy Sperm Whales in the future.