Florida mile marker 102 is easy to miss, and many of the volunteers coming to help save three struggling pilot whales have to make a u-turn on US1 before pulling into the inconspicuous dirt road marked by a small sign, "Marine Mammal Conservancy."

The three young whales, two still young enough to be dependent on their mothers for feeding and one, a late teen, are notably smaller than the huge humpbacks that usually come to mind when we think of beached whales.