SNIESZKO, S. F.. J. A. MILLER, AND C. R. ATHERTON. 



1966. Selected hematological and biochemical tests per- 

 formed with blood and serum of adult rainbow trout 

 tSalmo gairdnen) with a high incidence of hepato- 

 ma. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. L36:191-210. 

 TIETZ, N. W. 



1976. Methods for the determination of calcium in body 

 fluids. In N. W. Tietz (editor). Fundamentals of clinical 

 chemistry, p. 903-904. W. B. Saunders Co., Phila. 

 WALKER, C. R. 



1963. Toxicological effects of herbicides on the fish envi- 

 ronment. Univ. Mo. Bull. 64:17-34. 



James T. Winstead 



University of Southern Mit^sissippi 



Hattieshurg. Miss. 



Present address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 



Sabine Island Laboratory 



Gulf Breeze. FL 32561 



STRANDING OF THE PILOT WHALE, 



GLOBICEPHALA MACRORHYNCHL'S. IN 



FLORIDA AND SOUTH CAROLINA 



An opportunity to observe the behavior of strand- 

 ing pilot whales occurred in February 1977. Be- 

 fore dawn on the 6th, 175-200 pilot whales moved 

 with the rising tide into the Fort George River, 1.5 

 km north of the mouth of the St. Johns River (lat. 

 30'=25' N, long. 81°29' W), near Jacksonville, Fla. 

 The weather was clear, calm, and cold; minimum 

 air temperature was 0° C at Jacksonville Beach 

 (Environmental Data Service 1977:6). Once inside 

 the river mouth, the animals turned south into a 

 small, shallow embayment (Figure 1). A chronol- 

 ogy of the events that followed is presented below. 

 Events of 6 February were summarized by Willard 

 Patrick. 1 



6 February 1977. — Sometime prior to dawn the 

 whales began moving onto the southeast shore 

 (Figure 1, Site A), where they were stranded 

 either by their movements or by the falling tide. 

 Throughout the day, many of the whales were 

 refloated repeatedly by Florida Marine Patrol 

 (FMP) officers and local volunteers, but many 

 were immediately stranded again. Some whales 

 thrashed vigorously during attempts to refloat 

 them. By 2100 h, 21 whales were dead on the beach 



and the remainder were milling around near the 

 middle of the bay in water 1-2 m deep. During the 

 night of 6-7 February, what was thought to be the 

 remainder of the herd approached the surf zone at 

 high tide and an estimated 25 whales moved into 

 the ocean. Those whales not exiting through the 

 surf are believed to have returned to the embay- 

 ment although some may have stranded and died, 

 then drifted out to sea. 



7 February 1977. —At 0845 h, 23 whales, includ- 

 ing the 21 from the previous day, were dead on the 

 beach, most near Site A (Figure 1). Two groups of 

 40 to 60 whales were milling around in the bay, 

 one group approximately in the center and one 

 near Site B (Figure 1). Several smaller groups of 

 up to five animals each were also sighted. 



At about 1030 h, the large groups restranded at 

 Sites A and B. Many of the animals near Site A 

 were pushed off by volunteers; approximately 40 

 whales near Site B died within an hour. 



'Willard Patrick, Sergeant, Florida Marine Patrol, District 8, 

 4124 Boulevard Center Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207, pers. 

 commun. March 1977. 



FIGURE 1 .—Pilot whale stranding sites ( A-C) in the Fort George 

 River, Duval County, Fla., lat. 30°25' N, long. 81°24' W. 



FISHERY BULLETIN, VOL. 77. NO, 2, 1979. 



511 



