Gervais’ beaked whale Strands on Atlantic Beach, NC
Their mouths don’t open wide and the females do not have erupted teeth. (Males generally have 2 erupted teeth). |
Vicky G. Thayer, Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator for mid-coast North Carolina, was contacted about a marine mammal stranded at Atlantic Beach, NC on Thursday, February 10, 2011 . The whale was at water’s edge when found. It was a sub-adult female Gervais’ beaked whale, Mesoplodon europaeus, not a whale that commonly strands here.
Scars from Cookie Cutter Sharks, not unusual for off-shore marine mammals |
Notice that there is no notch in the tail flukes |
Moving the whale out of the water and onto the beach with a 4-wheel truck. |
. |
Weighing the whale. |
Removing the blubber. |
The local crew. |
More scientists arrive from Wilmington, NC to help. |
While we were working with this dead whale, live whales and dolphins were sighted in the ocean. |
Data sheets are like gold, as this is where all information is recorded. |
The stomach. |
Getting samples is not always easy. |
Measuring the depth of the blubber along the length of the body.
|
She had a very small dorsal fin. |
At the Vet School, her skull was
examined with both an MRI and a
CT. After that, her skull was dissected and more samples taken for study.
At the Vet School, when the skull was dissected two jaw fractures were discovered. They correspond to the location of the bruises. |
You can see the large crescent shaped blow hole in this picture.
|
Remains not taken to Vet school were left on the beach to be buried the next morning with a backhoe. |
Skull, bones and samples are loaded on the pick-up to be taken to NC Vet School in Raleigh,NC for further investigation. We finished just as it was getting dark. |
During the afternoon it had gotten progressively colder. Fortunately, midway through the afternoon, Keith brought us a large bag of french fries. Since my hands were clean, I put handfuls in the mouths of hungry people whose hands were bloody.
The success of this entire endeavor was due to an incredible collaboration between NC DMF, NCSU, CVM, CMAST, NC Maritime Museum, NC Atlantic Beach Public Works and numerous individual volunteers.
(See blog entry for April 7, 2011 for more detail on this whale)
The success of this entire endeavor was due to an incredible collaboration between NC DMF, NCSU, CVM, CMAST, NC Maritime Museum, NC Atlantic Beach Public Works and numerous individual volunteers.
(See blog entry for April 7, 2011 for more detail on this whale)
Trackback from your site.
Comments (3)
john
| #
what’s the conclusion?
orca attack?
Genetic deformities should not kill it outright?
ecco-sonar damaged due to bruise therefore beaching? and suicidal tendencies?
Reply
Tursiops
| #
John, this is the website monitor, I’ll check and see if a cause was deduced.
-Tursiops
Reply
Tursiops
| #
I just talked to the first responder. No conclusion could be made. The injury to the jaw was fresh, but didn’t appear to be caused by the beaching. The researchers are always careful not to speculate in cases like this because there are so many variables.
Reply