Five surviving pilot whales from a pod of 21 that became stranded in shallows in the Florida Keys last week will be transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Key Largo in the next few days, officials said on Monday.
"At the rehab facility, they can get better food and better treatment," said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spokeswoman Karrie Carnes.
From late on Thursday, a group of 21 pilot whales were stranded over a 12-mile (19-km) area in shallows and flats in the waters off Cudjoe Key, a labyrinth of mangrove-fringed islets in the Lower Florida Keys.
Out of the pod, 14 whales have died, despite desperate efforts by wildlife officials and volunteers to save them.
Mass beaching of pilot whales, a smaller whale species that has a bulbous forehead and can grow to between 12 to 18 feet in length, are quite common across the world, from New Zealand to Senegal.
On Saturday, the two healthiest whales were tagged with satellite tracking devices and released back into the sea. As of Sunday, the two released whales were still together in the Straits of Florida heading northeast toward the Gulf Stream, said Carnes.
The remaining five live whales were being kept in a floating protective sea pen where they were being cared for around the clock by four veterinarians and some 500 trained volunteers, working in four-hour shifts.
"Right now, they are essentially in open water. We have been fortunate to have good weather and that we have not had a cold front or a storm come through," Carnes told Reuters.
It was not clear for just how long the five remaining whales would need rehabilitation before they were healthy enough to be released back into the wild, but past rescues and subsequent recovery have taken months, Carnes said.
The whales in the pen were covered in wet towels and sheets with volunteers scooping water over the animals to keep them cool. Zinc oxide is placed around the blowhole to keep the airways clear. Tents have been placed over the pen to provide additional protection from the sun.
The five surviving whales include two male juveniles along with three adults, two females and one male.
"At least once a day the whales are given a medical exam and fed at the same time to minimize the stress on the animal," Carnes said.
While there have been numerous cases of individual whales beaching themselves in the Florida Keys, the last massive whale beaching there occurred in 2003 when 28 pilot whales were beached.
Carnes said the goal of every rescue was to release all the surviving whales back into the wild.
Experts say a variety of factors can cause such mass whale beaching: sickness, injuries, harmful algae blooms or disorientation resulting from manmade elements such as sonars.
In some past incidents around the world, experts have speculated the animals may have become disoriented by offshore seismic and sonar exploration by international oil companies, or even by the sonar systems of submarines patrolling or involved in military exercises.