STATE : Rescue of Pygmy Whale Attempted
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SANTA CRUZ — Scientists struggled today to revive a pygmy sperm whale that beached itself near Monterey, the first of its kind rescued on the West Coast in 20 years.
Researchers from the Joseph M. Long Laboratory at UC Santa Cruz stayed up all night caring for the 6-foot-long whale, found by swimmers at Pajaro Dunes on Thursday.
Graham Worthy, a marine biologist and a whale expert at the lab, said the whale has only a 1-in-10 chance of surviving. The young whale, believed to be 1 to 2 years old, suffers from “cookie-cutter” shark bites and long scratches, or “rake marks,” probably inflicted by an adult of its species.
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