PROTECT WILD DOLPHINS HOSPITAL FACT SHEET FORT PIERCE, FLA., March 13 - An adult pygmy sperm whale that beached itself north of the Sebastian Inlet late Sunday died shortly before 3:30pm Monday. The whale was receiving constant care and monitoring in a 30-foot tank at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, after being transported there in the Harbor Branch Dolphin Ambulance. In spite of the treatment, the whale's condition steadily worsened. A necropsy will be performed Tuesday morning, and initial results may be available within a few days. Blood samples and bacterial cultures were taken, and an EKG and a gastroscopy were performed when the whale arrived at Mote shortly after midnight. The pygmy sperm whale was found to be suffering from gastric ulcers, gastric stasis, dehydration, emaciation, stomach parasites, fluid in the lungs, high liver and kidney enzyme levels, and a low white blood cell count. The symptoms are almost identical to those suffered by the pygmy sperm whale that beached itself near Stuart on Friday, Feb. 18. Scientists will be looking at the possibility that there is something contagious effecting the populations of these whales in the Atlantic. The whale was discovered shortly before 7pm Sunday, March 12, and the Dolphin Ambulance from Harbor Branch arrived on scene shortly after 8pm. The pygmy sperm whale was hoisted into the ambulance by 8:30pm, and arrived at Mote at midnight. The site of the stranding was on the beach in the area of the 6300 block of A1A. Steve McCulloch, Director of the Dolphin Research Program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic, said the decision was made to transport the pygmy sperm whale to Sarasota instead of the recently-opened center at Harbor Branch because of the whale's weight and length of more than 10 feet. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc. is one of the world's leading nonprofit oceanographic research organizations dedicated to the exploration of the earth's oceans, estuaries and coastal regions for the benefit of mankind.