NORFOLK, Virginia -- As Cuban refugees took to the sea in record numbers, U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry headed to southern Florida on Monday to observe the exodus of Cubans and to meet with top Navy and Coast Guard officials.


Perry was scheduled to meet with Coast Guard officials in Key West, Florida, before conducting an air tour of the Florida straits to assess the flood of refugees.


A senior defense official, speaking on board Perry's aircraft, downplayed recent reports of a potential blockade against Cuba.


"The idea of a blockade is not something currently at the forefront of our planning," the official said.


On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta had raised the distant possibility of a naval blockade, presumably to prevent other countries from selling goods to Cuba, as a way to turn up the pressure on Cuban leader Fidel Castro.


"We've got to continue to put pressure on Castro, because the problem here is not the problem of refugees, it's not the problem of migrants. It's the problems within the Castro regime," he said.


Some Republicans have rebuked the White House for focusing too much on the refugee exodus, and not enough on pushing out Castro.


Panetta said that pressure on Castro himself was now being exerted in the form of economic sanctions announced Saturday by President Bill Clinton, including a ban on cash payments sent by Cuban-Americans to their relatives in Cuba.


Another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Navy has contingency plans to put as many as 10 Navy ships to work picking up Cubans adrift at sea. Up to now, mainly Coast Guard vessels have been used.


Reversing a 28-year U.S. policy, the Clinton administration announced last week that Cubans interdicted at sea would be turned away from the United States and detained at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


Clinton barred cash payments by Cuban-Americans to relatives in Cuba and put new limits on flights between the United States and the island nation. He also pledged increased and amplified U.S. radio broadcasts into Cuba warning residents not to take to the sea.


There were no signs that the new policy had stemmed the tide of Cuban refugees making the treacherous 145-kilometer journey across the Straits of Florida.


On Sunday, the Coast Guard intercepted at least 1,293 refugees from boats and rafts, the most in a single day since 1980, when 125,000 Cubans flooded to Florida in five months during the Mariel boat lift.


The administration is seeking to avoid the political disaster that befell the Carter White House when it proved unable to stem the refugee tide during the 1980 boat lift.