Orca washes up on Flagler County beach, first one on record

The orca was an adult female, and the first known killer whale stranding in Florida, according to a NOAA expert.

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A killer whale washed up on a Flagler County beach on Wednesday early in the morning — the first killer whale ever to be stranded on Florida's beaches, according to a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

"It's an unusual situation. We have had strandings in Cuba, and we have had sightings in the gulf — though those are rare." 

 

— BLAIR MASE, NOAA

The orca, commonly known as a killer whale, washed up on shore sometime around 6 a.m. just south of the Jungle Hut Park beach entrance. Local residents called in the beached animal, which was dead by the time it made it to shore, though there was no obvious sign of death.

Derek Pence, a Palm Coast resident, said he was walking the shore just after 6 a.m. when he noticed the animal about 25 to 30 feet offshore and called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

He walks the shoreline every morning, he said, and has called in several stranded sea turtles before.

Pence said he was on the phone with a biologist when he realized it was an orca.

"I thought it was a baby right whale at first, because of how dark it was," Pence said.  "She [the biologist] thought I was crazy when I said it was an orca."

Rescue teams from Sea World and the Florida Wildlife Commission came to remove the carcass. The teams were on scene before 10 a.m. but weren't able to remove the 21-foot animal until the afternoon, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

The FCSO closed the park entrance until the orca was removed, according to a message on its social media. 

Blair Mase, coordinator for NOAA's marine mammal stranding program, said NOAA has no records a killer whale stranding in Florida before. 

"It's an unusual situation. We have had strandings in Cuba," she said, "and we have had sightings in the gulf — though those are rare." 

Mase said the teams were working to get the animal to a lab to do a full exam, both internal and external, to determine cause of death. 

"We haven't even had a chance to examine the carcass," Mase said, just after noon on Wednesday. 

Mase said the teams hope to get a full sweep of genetic and biological samples for study.

Eva Karwowski said her 18-year-old son, Adam, saw the animal off shore while he was on the beach to take photos of the sunrise. It was still dark, Karwowski said, when they called it in. Her son left the scene after a while because he was so upset by the incident, she said. 

"It's very sad, heartbreaking," she said. "We're happy to see it, but unfortunately it ended its life here."

 

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