Freed Whales Find Their Way to Feeding Spot

Two stranded pilot whales that were nursed back to health and released off the coast of Rhode Island last month have zigzagged their way to a prime feeding location, Mystic Aquarium officials said Friday.

“We could not have chosen a more appropriate place for them to be, judging from what we know of the preferred habitat of pilot whales,” said David St. Aubin, aquarium director of research and veterinary services. “All signs are good.”

The male whales, believed to be 12 to 18 months old, washed up on a Cape Cod beach in June. After several months of rehabilitation at the aquarium in Mystic, they were set free in the ocean.

The Oct. 20 event was the first release of pilot whales by any U.S. aquarium in 14 years.

They are outfitted with satellite-linked transmitters, allowing scientists to monitor their movements and dive behavior. The transmitters are designed to fall off after about three months.

“We can be reasonably confident that the animals are still together, and that in itself generates some optimism for their survival,” St. Aubin said.

The whales are 300 miles from where they were released, but they traveled 500 miles to get there.