Rescuers halt effort to help beached whales

EASTHAM, Mass. -- Rescuers gave up extraordinary efforts to save more than 40 pilot whales that became beached Tuesday for a second time in two days, saying too many were sick or in shock from the ordeal.

Fourteen of the whales died. Some of the others were thrashing in shallow water and wailing to each other.

"It's heartbreaking," said Christopher Bailey of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Some of the small black whales along the Cape Cod coast were euthanized after blood tests showed they were ill, Bailey said.

Others were placed on their stomachs so they wouldn't suffocate while awaiting high tide, but rescuers decided not to try to push them to deeper water.

Bailey acknowledged the marine mammals may just return to shore. Pilot whales are highly sociable animals that travel and feed in groups.

The decision came a day after vacationers and volunteers worked feverishly to push the same group of whales -- then numbering 55 -- out to deeper water after they beached about 25 miles away at Chapin Beach in Dennis.

The whales had been tagged Monday for identification.

Since the strandings began Monday, 24 whales have died or been euthanized.

About 300 people had gone to the remote area near Lieutenant Island to try to help the whales. Volunteers put blankets and bedsheets on them to regulate their body temperature, while children filled buckets of water to pour on the animals to keep them comfortable, Bailey said.

"It's not a very good day, unfortunately," said Kristin Patchett, of the Cape Cod Stranding Network.

Pilot whales are common along the New England coast. They range from 12 to 16 feet in length as adults and weigh about 1,800 pounds. Also known as blackfish for their color, they feed on squid, sand eels and small crustaceans.

In July 2000, 10 pilot whales died after stranding in shallow water off Nantucket, and on Christmas Eve of 1991, 31 stranded pilot whales died off Cape Cod.

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