Developments in Brief : Beached Pilot Whales Back in Ocean, Found Ranging Over a Broad Area

Three pilot whales, nursed back to health after mysteriously beaching themselves on Cape Cod, have roamed hundreds of miles since being returned to the Atlantic in an odyssey “much more extensive” than expected, New England Aquarium scientists said last week.

But scientists conducting the study, the first of its kind, say they still have little understanding of the suicidal beachings.

Since the three mammals were released off Nantucket June 29 with small radio transmitters attached, they have roamed up to 320 miles away. During their first two weeks, the whales traveled a minimum of 44 miles a day at an average of 2 m.p.h., said aquarium spokeswoman Mimi Simpson.

“We’ve learned a lot about pilot whale behavior and travel. Their range is much more extensive than we ever thought,” she said.

Healthy whales have been captured, held in captivity and set free before. But the aquarium project is the first time beached whales have been rescued, restored to health and returned to the ocean.

Nicknamed Tag, Notch and Baby, the whales have been spotted about 320 miles southeast of Nantucket Island as well as at a point 180 miles east, off Delaware. During the final aerial survey last Monday, they were tracked at a location 102 miles southwest of Cape Cod, where they had beached themselves last December in a mass stranding that left 38 whales dead.

“We’re pleased that they have decided to return to this area,” Simpson said. “It’s an ideal area for whales. There are other pilot whales and a fine food source in that vicinity.”