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Beached whale's death a mystery
By CHRISTINA K. COSDON © St. Petersburg Times, published September 1, 1998 A member of the aquarium's sea turtle patrol driving on Sunset Beach discovered the distressed animal at 6:30 a.m. The whale died at 7:45 a.m. as the aquarium's stranding response team worked on the beach to help her. "It was hard to tell how long she had been there," said aquarium biologist Melody Baran, who estimated the dark gray whale was about 10 years old. The animal had no large wounds or visible signs of injury, she said, only nicks and scratches probably caused by the beaching. "Many animals are too far gone to save when they beach," Baran said. By the time they wash ashore, they might have multiple problems, she said. The nearly 8-foot, 250-pound whale was taken by truck to the aquarium for an autopsy. A preliminary report showed "nothing obvious that would point to why the animal was stranded or died," Baran said. "All the organs looked normal." In addition to testing blood and tissue samples, Baran said the whale's stomach will be sent to Hubbs Research Institute at Sea World in Orlando and a skin sample will be sent to geneticists in Oregon. Dwarf sperm whale strandings are not rare along the beaches, Baran said. "We get several a year, usually in the spring and summer," she said. "This is the first one this year." The smallest of the three species of sperm whales, dwarfs live mainly in deep water and seem to prefer warmer water. They strand frequently off Florida, in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. Other common stranding areas include the California coastline, the southern tips of Africa and South America and the coasts of Australia, India and Japan. However, little is known of their migratory habits. A stranded whale found off a Hudson beach Aug. 22 is doing better. Pasco, an adult male pygmy killer whale, is still alive and is being treated at Mote Marine Aquarium in Sarasota. The whale is eating whole fish and has been taken off the tube-fed squid gruel, Sarasota aquarium spokeswoman Mary Kmetz said. "He's still not swimming on his own, we have him in a flotation harness," Kmetz said. He still is considered to be in critical condition, she said, and is being given antibiotics and other medication.
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LEARWATER -- A young female dwarf sperm whale, found early Monday on a Treasure Island beach, died despite efforts by Clearwater Marine Aquarium rescuers to save her.
