. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. N ATU RALIST'S NOTEBOOK pilot whale pods are found throughout the world's open oceans. "Pilot whales are always off the coast of North Carolina," says Hohn. They typically swim along the Gulf Stream and Continental Shelf hunting for squid — often diving 700 to 800 meters for their favorite food. "We are at the southern edge for long-finned pilot whales and the northern edge for short-finned," says Craig Harms of North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Har
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. N ATU RALIST'S NOTEBOOK pilot whale pods are found throughout the world's open oceans. "Pilot whales are always off the coast of North Carolina," says Hohn. They typically swim along the Gulf Stream and Continental Shelf hunting for squid — often diving 700 to 800 meters for their favorite food. "We are at the southern edge for long-finned pilot whales and the northern edge for short-finned," says Craig Harms of North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Harms led a team from NC State's CVM that performed necropsies, or animal autopsies, on 12 of the 33 pilot whales stranded last year. Along with a team of researchers from various universities and laboratories, he collected and studied tissues, blood samples and stomach contents. Despite all this information and analysis, the whales' deaths remain a mystery. TRIPLE TRAGEDY At about 8 on Jan. 15, Gretchen Lovewell, coordinator for marine mammal stranding response at NOAA's Beaufort Laboratory, receives a page about a live whale on a northern beach in North Carolina. The second report in just a few hours creates concern that whales could be spread along the beaches from Oregon Inlet north almost to Virginia, a distance of almost 30 miles. The latest stranding turns out to be a minke whale calf that likely separated from its mother and starved. Wendy Walton, leading a team from the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program (VAQS), arrives in Corolla. She euthanizes the whale, with plans to return the next day to take the carcass to Virginia Beach for a necropsy. Back in Nags Head, near Oregon Inlet, access to the pilot whales is restricted by narrow beaches and a rising tide. A VAQS team led by Denise Boyd is forced to cease work because of the high tide. As the first day progresses, the tide washes away two pilot whales, leaving 31 animals — seven still alive. But the po
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