A pod of at least 20 pilot whales beached themselves just down the coast at St. Simons Island yesterday evening, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and beachgoers dropped everything and jumped to the opportunity to help them out before responders from the DNR arrived.
It’s unclear at this time why well more than a dozen whales beached on the island, but Glynn County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency said it’s “an unusual occurrence.”
The miracle is…all of the whales made it off of the beach and back in the ocean. As of Tuesday night’s reports, none had died.
“Events like these can really show the level of care and support from our community,” Glynn County officials stated. “Thank you to everyone that helped those that couldn’t help themselves today.”
Beachgoer Shelby Hardin shared photos and videos of the whales on Facebook, along with beachgoers pushing them back out in the water.
“Today was awful. It’s amazing how many locals and tourists came together to help push them back into the water,” she posted.
It’s amazing indeed. Whale strandings are all over the news this summer from all over the U.S. and most of the stories don’t end like this one did.
Kudos to those that went out to help them.
It begs us to ask what would local beachgoers here at Hunting Island, or on Hilton Head do? This could’ve easily happened right here in Beaufort, and could at anytime. St. Simons Island, GA is only about 120 miles down the coast from Beaufort, SC.
Yeah, they’d probably react the same way and do the exact same thing these kind folks did.
The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network shared a reason why the pod may have stranded, and said they might be back.
“Often, with pilot whales, they follow a leader, possibly a sick leader, who got pushed ashore and the others followed. If they can remove the sick leader, then they can usually survive. If they stranded because they are sick, then they are weak, and will likely re-strand.”
It’s nice to have a happy ending, once in awhile. Lets hope this is the last we’ve all seen of these whales.
