Whale Found Dead In Water Off Boca Raton
BOCA RATON (CBSMiami/AP) -- A whale was found dead Friday morning in the water off Boca Raton.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration identified it was a sperm whale.
Boca Raton police say the whale was discovered Friday morning on Spanish River Beach. Sharks later surrounded it and started feeding off it.The whale later washed up on shore.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Katie Johnson said the immature male whale is between 33 and 35 feet long and weighs as much as 15 tons. Male sperm whales can weigh up to 45 tons.
It wasn't immediately clear if the whale had been injured or was sick. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologists intended to perform a necropsy on the whale after tides were low enough to make it safe.
"There aren't any apparent signs as to what led to this whale's death," Johnson said in an email.
Tractors from the city of Boca Raton were trying to pull the whale up onto the beach so it could be anchored, she added.
Spanish River Park beach has been closed due to the incident.
According to NOAA, ship strikes frequently account for the deaths of sperm whales, which typically live in deep waters of the open ocean. They also can get tangled in fishing gear and are also sometimes attacked by killer whales or large sharks.
Sperm whales eat large squid, sharks, skates and fish, diving for between 35 minutes to an hour to depths between 1,312 feet and 3,280 feet, NOAA reports.
In the North Atlantic during winter, sperm whales tend to congregate east and northeast of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras. Sperm whales are considered an endangered species.
