Beached baby sperm whale euthanized in Florida
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Wildlife officials have euthanized a baby pygmy sperm whale that had washed ashore on a beach in Florida.
Several people tried to help the whale after it beached Saturday at St. Augustine but it was too late.
"The will that that animal had to live. You would think that it would die when it got on the beach," one beach-goer said to CBS affiliate WJAX.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission official gave the distressed whale sedatives and painkillers.
It's not clear what was wrong with the marine mammal but FWC biologist Nadia Gordan told the Palm Beach Post that whales usually strand because they are sick or dying.
WJAX reports that despite Gordan's attempts at comforting the crowd, people struggled to cope with the harsh reality of nature. Eventually the whale took its last breath.
"I think it's good for them to be here, you know and appreciate the life of this whale," Gordan said.
A full necropsy, including tissue testing, is to be conducted to determine what was wrong with the whale.