HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HUMPBACK WHALE NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY Officials at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary performed a necropsy on a pygmy sperm whale that had to be euthanized on Saturday night. The whale and its calf beached themselves at Sugar Beach on Maui during the weekend. It is not known whether the calf, which might have slipped away, survived.

2 whales beach
on Maui

The mother has to be euthanized, while
the whereabouts of her calf is unknown

Two pygmy sperm whales beached themselves at Sugar Beach on Maui during the weekend, and the mother had to be euthanized.

Her calf might have slipped away, but it is not known whether it survived.

It is unknown what caused the whales to beach themselves, said David Matilla, science and rescue coordinator for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

There were no obvious signs of what caused the problem, Matilla said. "Maybe she had problems with the birth. There isn't a lot known about these whales."

The whales were spotted by members of the Kihei Canoe Club near the Sugar Beach condominiums in northern Kihei at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, several hundred feet away from one another.

"There was clearly something wrong," Matilla said, noting that it was uncommon for the whales to be in shallow water and a bad sign that they were found apart.

"They were both alive when they came up. They were rolling around in the surf," he said.

With the help of a truck and a sling, dozens of people helped move the whales to a nearby fishpond located a mile away from the beach.

Matilla said the mother was in a disoriented state. Officials made the decision to euthanize the whale sometime around 11 p.m. Saturday.

"It was clear that we had to put her out of suffering," Matilla said. A necropsy was performed at the sanctuary, and tissue samples were taken for study.

Matilla said the calf could not be found. "It's possible that it died right away," he said. "We scoured the beaches. It probably sunk to the bottom."

Pygmy sperm whales are blue-gray in color and have blunt heads, a dorsal fin and sharp teeth. They can grow up to 11 feet in length.

Matilla said the mother was about 9 feet long, while her calf was about 3 1/2 to 4 feet long. They live in deep, warm waters off the shelf drop around the Hawaiian Islands, as well as in other parts around the world.