16 pilot whales are stranded in shallow Florida waters

Early Friday morning, rescuers are able to move six of the whales to a safer placeThe whales are in danger of dying, rescuer saysAdult pilot whales can measure up to 20 feet long and weigh up to 3 tons

(CNN) -- Rescuers worked early Friday to save a group of pilot whales who stranded themselves in shallow waters near the Florida Keys.

There were more than 16 pilot whales stranded in an area about 20 miles north of Key West, said Art Cooper, the chairman of the Marine Mammal Conservancy.

By about 4 a.m. ET a team of about 50 people were able to get six of the whales into a safer area and were protecting them with a sea pen they had created, Cooper said.

The group of whales were spread out in about a four-mile area in waters that were as shallow as three inches in some areas.

The situation for the animals was dire because mass strandings can be a sign of some kind of sickness in some of the whales, Cooper said. Also being stuck in shallow waters make them vulnerable to predators.

"It is a bad situation for them when they get in the shallows and thrash around and bloody themselves," said Cooper. "If there is nobody to intervene for them they will die."

Karrie Carnes, of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also said the whales are in a perilous situation.

"It is highly likely that these animals are emaciated, that they are compromised," said Carnes.

Adult pilot whales can measure up to 20 feet long and weigh up to 3 tons. Due to their social nature, they are often involved in mass strandings, according to the American Cetacean Society. The ACS is a non-profit group based in California that works to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises, according to its website.

Last year, dozens of pilot whales died in northern New Zealand after 58 of them were stranded on a remote beach.

CNN's Lateef Mungin contributed to this report.

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Endangered whales gather off Cape Cod

Boaters have been warned to be on the lookout for right whales around Cape Cod Bay. STORY HIGHLIGHTSScientists count record number of right whales in Cape Cod BayA rich food source is drawing the whalesOnly 450 right whales are known to exist, scientists sayRELATED TOPICSWhalesMassachusettsAquatic Mammals Boston (CNN) -- What scientists say is the largest concentration of endangered right whales ever spotted in one location is giving researchers an unusually rich opportunity to study the animals and their feeding habits.

But the gathering, an annual affair in the chilly spring waters off Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts, also raises the threat of boats striking the 70-ton mammals, according to the state Division of Marine Fisheries. The agency has posted an advisory to boaters urging them to be on the lookout for the whales and steer clear.

Scientists believe that there are only 450 right whales in the world but say the numbers have been slowly recovering since commercial whaling of the species was banned more than 70 years ago.

The more than 100 whales counted in the bay this month is the largest number recorded in one place, according to the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

"We're looking at an exceedingly rare animal in unusual numbers in one of their last critical habitats," Charles Mayo, a scientist at the center who studies right whales, said Friday.

Why so many in one place?

In a word, food, said Mayo. One way or another, the whales caught wind of a unusually rich repast of plankton available in the waters of the bay and arrived to take advantage of the easy dining, Mayo said. The plankton bloom often occurs, but it's been particularly rich and long-lasting this year for unknown reasons, he said.

There have been no boat strikes on the many whales contained in the bay's waters, said Dan McKiernan, deputy director of the state Marine Fisheries Division.

In fact, the last known fatal strike on a whale in the area happened in 1999, he said.

State and federal law makes it a crime to close within 500 yards of a right whale, according to the state Marine Fisheries Division.

Seeing so many right whales in the same place is encouraging for researchers, even though they are well aware that the species is on the road to recovery after dipping in the early 1900s to as few as a handful of breeding females and male suitors.

It's also a spectacle for the public, Mayo said. The whales feed on the surface and can be seen from shore, he said.

"Anytime you see a whale from the beach that's actually alive, it's pretty exciting," he said.

The whales should begin trickling out of the bay sometime in the next few days heading for deeper waters offshore, Mayo said.

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