Published On:Friday, August 13, 2010

By MEGAN REYNOLDS

Tribune Staff Reporter

mreynolds@tribunemedia.net

AN INVESTIGATION is under way to determine how four pilot whales became washed up on a beach in Norman's Cay, Exuma.

The male and female adults, around 12 to 14ft long, and two juveniles, each around 8ft long, were found by Nigel Bower and Mona Wiethuchter as they were passing by in a boat, taking two guests from Ship Channel Cay to MacDuff's at Norman's Cay Beach Club for dinner at around 4.30pm on Wednesday.

Ms Wiethuchter said the four whales were lying face up near the high water mark on a small beach on the east side of Norman's Cay, 12 miles south of the beach club, and the adult male was bleeding.

"It was really sad, we couldn't believe it at first," she said.

"Whales are usually on the opposite side of the island, in the deep ocean, so something must have distracted or disorientated them to bring them into the shallows."

Captain Bower took photographs of the whales and sent them directly to the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) who posted Exuma Land and Sea Park wardens at the beach to collect tissue samples yesterday.

And a veterinarian is expected to visit the site today.

BNT park warden for Abaco David Knowles explained how the BNT is part of the Bahamas Marine Mammal Stranding Network and therefore staff at national parks across the country are trained in collecting tissue samples from beached whales wherever they are found.

"No one knows at this point what is happening and we don't want to speculate," he said.

"But the samples will more or less be able to tell us something."

However, Department of Marine Resources director Michael Braynen said the samples do not always explain why whales are beached.

"Samples are collected to build up the knowledge base and they can provide useful information," he said.

"But determining the cause of death can be a very complex undertaking, with success more likely if experts can get to the carcass soon after death.

"In most instances this is never determined.

"I do not claim to be a whale expert, but I do know that pilot whales are often found in large groups and it appears that perfectly healthy ones sometime end up stranding due to group behaviour."

Five pilot whales were found washed up on the rocky shores of Deadman's Reef in Grand Bahama in April, including a 17ft pilot whale estimated to weigh around 3,000lbs, while the others were 12-15ft long and around 1,800lbs.

However, they had been beached for several days before they were found and samples were not collected.

The reason they were beached is still unknown.

A beached whale was also found in Andros on August 4.