Ways That Whales Get Lost

Have you ever wondered how whales can lose their way in the ocean or get stranded in shallow water? A pod of about 51 pilot whales recently got stranded after losing their way and ending up in Everglades National Park in Florida.

Have you ever wondered how whales can lose their way in the ocean or get stranded in shallow water?

A pod of about 51 pilot whales recently got stranded after losing their way and ending up in Everglades National Park in Florida.

11 of the whales were found dead or had to be put down, but 35 are reportedly still alive and slowly swimming back out to sea.

The whereabouts of the remaining whales is unknown, but they are also believed to have died.

In 2011, around 20 whales were beached in Florida, and the last time whales got stuck in the Everglades was back in 1995.

There are several factors that can lead to whales getting lost including parasites and disease that disorient them, or rising spring tides.

Activity from humans like sonar tracking or fisheries operating in the ocean can also make it harder for whales to navigate.

The whales that were stranded in the Everglades have to be guided back out to sea through miles of shallow water because airlifting each one out would be logistically a much more difficult process.

Because pilot whales are such a social species, they all follow each other, which can lead to large groups getting in dangerous waters.