Pygmy Sperm Whale Mother and Calf Wash Ashore, Calf Euthanized After Mother Dies [VIDEO]

A mother pygmy sperm whale and her calf died after washing ashore in Jupiter, Fla. on Monday afternoon, according to the Palm Beach Post.

First to spot the pair was a local named Jessica Taylor and her mother.

“I was walking on the beach with my mom and then all of a sudden it was looked like jaws – red flowing everywhere in the water and then all of a sudden we saw one running this way and the other wash up on the other side,” she told the Florida news agency. “When I got there for the mom she looked pretty torn up and the waves were just hurling her back and forth from shore to water.”

The mother and daughter duo were able to get the whale back into the ocean; however, much to their dismay, it swam right back to the same place.

It was at that point Taylor and her mother realized the whale had a broken fin.

When Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologist John Cassady arrived, the calf and mother were still separated by “a good distance,” with the latter still in the waves.

To make them more comfortable and reduce their stress, the group consisting of both professionals and onlookers moved the mother out of the waves and the calf over next to her. Covering them with towels, they then worked to keep the animals soaked.

Despite their efforts, however, the mother died, prompting those overseeing the situation to euthanize the calf because, as FWC spokeswoman Carli Segeleson explained, the calf was too young to survive on its own and could not be rehabilitated in a facility given that it is a deep sea water species.

Both whales were sent to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lab in Miami for necropsies.

Unlike Taylor, Cassady said he didn’t see any visible signs of injury and that it was too soon to know what might have been the cause of death.

To see pictures and a video of the resuce effort, click here.