2 baby sperm whales dead after beaching themselves on Florida’s East Coast (photo warning)

[nashville_brook]

(NOTE: this is the EAST coast -- Palm Beach and Jacksonville. ALSO: heartbreaking video at link)


http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/2-baby-sperm-whales-dead-after-beaching-themselves-on-floridas-east-coast-infections-and-toxins-are-going-to-be-the-big-killers-of-these-animals-says-pathologist-videophotos

2 baby sperm whales dead after beaching themselves on Florida’s East Coast; “Infections and toxins are going to be the big killers of these animals” says pathologist
BY OILFLORIDA, ON JUNE 25TH, 2010


A 12-foot-long baby whale believed to be a pygmy sperm whale beached itself at Fernandina Beach Wednesday evening. Beachgoers helped get it into deeper water, but it beached again, wildlife officials said. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials removed the whale, intending to take it to a rehab center to be nursed back to health, but it died.



Officials with the Florida Oceanographic Society and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were notified of the dead whale and examined the 9-foot whale’s carcass. …The whale’s carcass was taken to the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, where a necropsy will be performed to determine a cause of death. Beached whale dies, is then brought to university for tests, Gainesville Sun, June 25, 2010:

University of Florida veterinarians are working to solve the mystery of why a Pygmy sperm whale stranded itself on Fernandina Beach. The 12-foot-long, 950-pound whale was brought Thursday morning to the UF College of Veterinary Medicine.


It washed up the previous night on Fernandina Beach and died en route to the Jacksonville Zoo. …UF veterinary pathologists will be conducting a necropsy to determine the exact reason.

“Infections and toxins are going to be the big killers of these animals,” Walsh said. Beachgoers saw the whale in shallow waters about 7 p.m. Wednesday before it washed up onshore. The beachgoers tried unsuccessfully three or four times to get it back into the water, said Ryan Berger, a biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. He arrived at the scene around 10 p.m. and loaded the animal into a truck for transport to the zoo. He said the species lives in deep offshore waters and is difficult to raise in captivity, so the plan was to euthanize the whale there. But the animal died on the way, so it was brought to UF for a necropsy.

[tekisui]

1. A sad knr. We can't let these images get lost.

[nashville_brook]

2. yes, and please know that's the spirit in which i post this.

[hayu_lol]

4. Need a whale expert...

is a baby sperm whale still nursing? If so, perhaps the mother died from the oil.

[nashville_brook]

5. i'm wondering if the bloody-looking skin might be from the dispersants' anti-coagulant properties

maybe the UF team will be able to answer that.

[Catherina]

9. Nurses for 2 years :( They need about 50 lbs of milk at day

:cry:

The adults eat about a ton a day of mostly squid, octopus, and skate.

...

Along with the marine toxicologist Susan Shaw, of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, I’ve come to peer into the hidden side of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Wreathed in neoprene and with Vaseline coating the exposed skin around our faces, we slip into the clear water in the lee of the boat. Beneath the mats of radioactive-looking, excrement-coloured sludge are smaller gobs of congealed oil. Taking a cautious, shallow breath through my snorkel I head downwards. Twelve metres under, the specks of sludge are smaller, but they are still everywhere.

Among the specks are those of a different hue. These are wisps of drifting plankton, the eggs and larvae of fish and the microscopic plants and animals that form the base of almost all marine food webs. Any plankton-eating fish would now have trouble distinguishing food from poison, let alone the larger filter-feeders.

Onshore, small landfalls of the same sludge have started to cause panic among locals as they coat the marshes. Here, just a few feet beneath the surface, a much bigger disaster is unfolding in slow motion.

“This is terrible, just terrible,” says Dr Shaw, back on the boat. “The situation in the water column is horrible all the way down. Combined with the dispersants, the toxic effects of the oil will be far worse for sea life. It’s death in the ocean from the top to the bottom.”

Dispersants can contain particular evils. Corexit 9527 — used extensively by BP despite it being toxic enough to be banned in British waters — contains 2-butoxyethanol, a compound that ruptures red blood cells in whatever eats it. Its replacement, COREXIT 9500, contains petroleum solvents and other components that can damage membranes, and cause chemical pneumonia if aspirated into the lungs following ingestion.

...

A pod of sperm whales resides off New Orleans and is believed to be dining on giant squid. These ultimately depend on the tiny specks of life that are slowly being poisoned at the surface.

What happens next, no one can say for sure.

May 24, 2010 by Frank Pope

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7134581.ece

[WillyT]

3. K & R !!!

:cry:

:kick:

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Will we hear the results of necropsies? So far, I have heard nothing

on any of the dead animals removed for further examination. How long has it been since the turtles were to have necropsies? One month or more? Where are the results?

[nashville_brook]

7. Markey: Why's BP Still Getting Away With Heavy Dispersant Use? - mother jones

BP has not been meeting the directive from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard to slash dispersant use in the Gulf, as David and I reported Wednesday. On Thursday, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) pressed the EPA and the Coast Guard on why the company is being allowed to violate their orders.

Markey points out that BP has not eliminated surface application of the chemicals. While they've cut them, "volumes hover around 10,000 gallons” every day. And on several days, BP has surpassed the 15,000 gallon limit on undersea application at the spill source.

“Million of gallons of chemical dispersant have been added to the Gulf waters, contributing to a toxic stew of chemicals, oil and gas with impacts that are not well understood,” wrote Markey. Markey has also been pressing BP on the issue of undersea plumes of oil, which is likely caused by these dispersants.

Meanwhile, the EPA has not yet concluded its own tests on both Corexit, BP's dispersant of choice, and alternatives. Markey acknowledged that "this type of scientific evaluation takes time to accomplish," but argued that the federal government should at least be pushing BP to meet the goal of reducing the use of Corexit as they finalize those tests.

[City Lights]

8. K&R

:cry:

[bdamomma]

10. ..............

BP is murdering these beautiful creatures poor things they and alot of people who are suffering did not need this negligence

[Cetacea]

11. Read the comments below the story. Stunning.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/24025019/detail.html

[nashville_brook]

12. jacksonville asses are a special breed.

[nashville_brook]

13. ...

[L0oniX]

14. MURDER

[Kalyke]

15. That should be Cheney and his oil-loving ilk on those shores -

not these beautiful, innocent creatures God (or nature) has bestowed upon us.

So said.

I hate, you, BP. You fucking pieces of tarballs.