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'Unprecedented' Beaching Kills more than 80 False Killer Whales off South Florida Coast

Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

It’s being called the largest marine mammal stranding in Florida history: nearly 100 false killer whales have been stranded along the shores of Monroe County, on the west coast of Florida just south of Everglades City.

More than 80 of the dolphin-like animals have been confirmed dead on the western edge of the Everglades, caught in mudflats and among mangroves. Wildlife officials are converging on the site to assess the damage and help, if they can.

It's a species known to commonly mass strand, including more than 800 of the marine false killer whales stranding in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in the 1946.

Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live, NOAA marine mammal biologist Dr. Erin Fougeres  joins the show to provide an update on one of the largest marine mammal strandings in Florida history, and how the public can help if they come upon a stranded marine mammal.

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.