Moby Dick, Shamu, Free Willy..

According to an article in the Washington Post, three whales trapped ashore on South Hutchinson Island in Florida had to be euthanized. The whales, who appeared to be malnourished and thin, were determined to be too sick to be saved. Martin County fire and rescue officials spent more than an hour Wednesday evening trying to keep the melon-headed whales alive. They draped them in wet sheets and tried to keep them from thrashing around, but eventually gave up. This was the first time this species of whales was seen in this region of the United States. Scientists plan to perform necropsies on the whales to see what caused them to wash ashore in the first place on Thursday.
In the past, whales have been killed in the United States for their oil and blubber. Commercial whaling in America was the center of the world whaling industry during the 18th and 19th centuries and was responsible for the near-extinction of certain species of whales. New Bedford, Massachusetts and Nantucket Island were the primary whaling centers in the 1800s. In 1857, New Bedford had 329 registered whaling ships. Prior to the 1920's, [when commercial whaling in the United States waned], numerous fishing ports were actually whaling ports which built whaling ships. The discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in the late 19th century was the beginning of the end of commercial whaling in the United States because it could replace whale oil.