A National Park Services volunteer looks over a dead pilot whale as it lies on the beach in the Florida Everglades
More than 90 whales have become stranded on Florida beaches in the past two months, almost three times the average, baffling marine biologists and making them wonder if a deadly common denominator is at play.
The series of cold fronts that marched across Florida in the past month could be a factor. "Any kind of front or a hurricane disorients the animals, and they come in," said Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.
Another theory: The whales might have contracted morbillivirus, an ailment similar to canine distemper that has been attacking dolphins along the East Cost this year. But necropsies failed to confirm this.
Navy sonar, which can cause whales to aim toward shore, has been ruled out, because the Navy wasn't conducting any sonar exercises when the whales stranded, Fougeres said.
Or, the whales could be following a sick leader who was heading toward shallow waters to make breathing easier, said Denise Boyd, a research biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Nothing so far is conclusive, Fougeres said, and "there are cases where we just never know the cause."
On average, about 200 whales each year land on Florida's shores. About one "mass stranding," involving several whales, occurs every three years in this state, authorities said.
