Despite Efforts, Pygmy Sperm Whale Dies

The pygmy sperm whale rescued four days ago in the Keys died Wednesday, despite round-the-clock care at the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo.

Volunteers were preparing the whale, nicknamed Gauge, for an endoscopy when it passed away with no warning, conservancy president Robert Lingenfelser said.

''It had just gone for a good swim with one of our volunteers and everything seemed fine,'' he said.

A necropsy to determine cause of death will be performed Thursday at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Laboratory on Virginia Key.

The effort to save the whale began Saturday morning after tourist Leona Stone discovered the stranded whale in distress and barely moving in rocky, shallow water just yards offshore on Lower Matecumbe Key, near mile marker 75 of U.S. 1...