The first known occurrence of a female killer whale grounding itself in the southeast US resulted in her death north of Daytona Beach.
The reason of death of a 21-foot (6.4-meter) orca, the first known occurrence of a killer whale beaching itself in the southeast US, will be investigated by Florida wildlife officials through necropsy.
The female orca was still alive when it washed up on shore early on Wednesday in Flagler County, some 30 miles north of Daytona Beach, but she passed away before help could be summoned.
As several onlookers sought to catch a sight of the orca, deputies from the Flagler county sheriff’s office closed access roads to the beach immediately south of Jungle Hut park.
According to Fougeres, an orca was seen coming ashore shortly after dawn, but a rescue crew from the Hubbs-SeaWorld research centre discovered the whale dead.
The carcass was removed with help from employees of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and Flagler county officials. On its Facebook page, the sheriff’s office shared images from the “heartbreaking” incident.
Noaa estimates that there are 50,000 orcas living in various populations and ecotypes throughout the world. Although other populations prefer warmer climates, they are most common in the cooler waters of Antarctica, Norway, and Alaska.
The endangered “southern resident unique population” of orcas, which numbers around 2,500 and is spread out from central California to south-east Alaska, is the most researched population in the world. Fougeres claimed that seeing them in the south-east US region, which extends from North Carolina to Puerto Rico and west to Texas, was “quite infrequent.”
The Marine Mammal Protection Act safeguards all populations of orcas, the biggest members of the dolphin family.
Food shortages, toxins in the ocean, and shipping interruptions are all threats to their survival.