WOODS HOLE, Mass. – Samples from six whale carcasses found near Georges Bank, about 200 miles east of Cape Cod, have been sent to a South Carolina lab for testing to determine the cause of the deaths.

Through July, authorities found six to 12 humpback whales, one fin whale and one pilot whale dead in this area, said Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries in the Northeast.

Two more whale carcasses were found in Canadian waters near Georges Bank this week – one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. She said their deaths may be related to whatever killed the whales in U.S. waters.

The samples, which included urine, feces, blubber, skin and one tooth, will help determine what caused the deaths, Frady said.

“We’ll get some information out of these samples,” she said.

All of the animals had died between one week and one month before they were found.

Test results are expected by next week. If they are inconclusive, experts may try to pull a more recently deceased animal to shore for more complete testing, Frady said.

The only other case of a cluster of dead humpbacks in the last two decades was in 1987-88, when 14 animals were stranded on Cape Cod between November and January.

NOAA Fisheries expert Dr. Phillip Clapham said those deaths were traced to food poisoning – the whales had eaten fish with lethal levels of a naturally found algal toxin.

Frady said more data are needed before investigators will point to particular causes of death.