Law enforcement officials say wildlife crews are working to free a sperm whale beached off Venice, Florida, but hope is fading.
The whale is beached "on a sandbar about 50 yards out from Service Club Park," Venice police said in a Facebook post on Sunday morning.
Police closed the entrance to the park as teams from Mote Marine Laboratory and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission work to reach the whale.Police and members of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office were assisting wildlife workers with the whale. In an afternoon update, police said crews had been trying to administer a sedative to the distressed animal, but were unable to reach it due to dangerous water conditions."Unfortunately, it appears this will likely be a recovery effort as nature takes its course," police said. They said the whale had been beached since Saturday morning.that the laboratory's stranding investigations program was responding to the scene. She estimated the whale was more than 15 metres long.
They can be found in all major oceans but faced population decline due to harvesting by humans until whaling was halted in 1988.