Rescue attempts abandoned after whales swim aground again

Rescuers tonight gave up extraordinary efforts to save more than 40 pilot whales that became beached in Cape Cod for a second time in two days, saying too many were sick or in shock from the ordeal.

Some of the whales were thrashing in shallow water, while others were wailing to each other.

"It’s heartbreaking," said Christopher Bailey of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Some of the small black whales along the New England coast were put down after blood tests showed they were ill, Bailey said.

Others were placed on their stomachs so they wouldn’t suffocate while awaiting high tide, but rescuers decided not to try to push them to deeper water.

"We want to give them the opportunity," he said of the move to put some of them on their stomachs.

"If they can find the desire to swim off, they will do so."

Bailey acknowledged the marine mammals may just return to shore. Pilot whales are highly sociable animals that travel and feed in groups.

The decision came a day after tourists and volunteers worked feverishly to push the same group of whales _ then numbering 55 _ out to deeper water after they beached about 25 miles away at

Chapin Beach, Massachusetts. The whales had been tagged Monday for identification.

One whale was found dead today, bringing to 11 the number of the whales that had died since the strandings began.

About 300 people had gone to the remote area near Lieutenant Island to try to help the whales.

Volunteers put blankets and bedsheets on them to regulate their body temperature, while children filled buckets of water to pour on the animals to keep them comfortable, Bailey said.

"It’s not a very good day, unfortunately," said Kristin Patchett, of the Cape Cod Stranding Network.

Pilot whales, which are common in New England waters, range from 12 to 16 feet in length as adults and weigh about 1,800 pounds.

Also known as blackfish , they feed on squid, sand eels and small crustaceans.

In July 2000, 10 pilot whales died after stranding in shallow water off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and on Christmas Eve of 1991, 31 stranded pilot whales died off Cape Cod.