PORTLAND (AP) – Federal officials are organizing a team of researchers to investigate nearly two dozen unexplained whale deaths between Maine and Virginia this summer.

The dead animals were reported between July 1 and Aug. 23, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The whales include seven minkes, three humpbacks, one sperm, one fin and another that was either a fin or sei whale. Ten could not be identified, but there were no sightings of carcasses of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

In the past five years, sightings of large whale carcasses in July and August have ranged from about five to 14, said Teri Frady, spokeswoman for the fisheries service.

The large number this year prompted officials to declare an “unusual mortality event,” which allows for additional funding to investigate.

Researchers have samples from two whales and hope to determine if the deaths are connected in any way.

“It may be that these deaths are not related to one another, or we may be looking at something that is ongoing, with origins we need to understand,” said Katie Touhey, leader of the Cape Cod Stranding Network nonprofit organization.

Touhey, who has been selected as field coordinator for the investigation, led a similar investigation of unexplained humpback and fin whale deaths on Georges Bank in July of 2003.

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