"Uh, you said sperm ....."
Posted on 09/06/2006 6:54:23 PM PDT by Rb ver. 2.0
Scientists from an assortment of institutions spent part of Labor Day weekend searching for clues as to why five - or perhaps six - pygmy sperm whales stranded on the Outer Banks beginning on Friday.
“There were definitely five of the whales, and possibly six,” said Laura Engleby, fisheries biologist with of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service office in St. Petersburg, Fla. “The reason the number is unclear, is because the public pushed one of the whales back out into the water and then one washed in, so there is no way of knowing if the one that washed in was the same one put back into the water or yet a different whale.”
Stranded whales of all kinds rarely survive after being returned to the water. Their heavy weight causes physical damage when stranded since their bodies are not designed for the underside to support the weight.
NOAA coordinated the stranding response of the partner agencies which included scientists from the NMFS' Marine Mammal Stranding Network based at Beaufort Laboratory, North Carolina State University Veterinary School, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center.
Engleby said that the researchers spent most of Sunday conducting necropsies and collecting data to take back to their respective institutions to analyze. “It's too early to tell what caused the strandings. There was a lot of tissue collected that has to be tested.”
One whale washed ashore in Corolla, another in Frisco and the remainder in Hatteras near Cape Point.
Four of the whales were alive, and were subsequently euthanized. “One was a code 3, said Engleby, which means that it was moderately decomposed. And the other one was obviously a recent death.”
Pygmy sperm whales are the second most likely whale species to strand along the Outer Banks. Bottlenose dolphin are the most frequent.
This species is often confused with sharks on first glance because of their underslung lower jaw which contains 12-16 sharply curved pairs of teeth. Its length averages about 10 feet for both sexes; however, it can reach a maximum length of 14 feet. Although it enjoys dining on octopus and squid, it also eats crab, fish and shrimp.
Most calving seems to take place between spring and autumn. The gestation period is about 11 months. They are found in all temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical waters and are thought not to migrate.
Earlier this year, three dwarf sperm whales stranded in the area.
But in 2005, the largest-ever reported stranding occurred when almost three dozen whales of various species beached themselves along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore just north of Oregon Inlet from Jan. 15 to 17.
During that event, a pod of 31 short-finned pilot whales beached themselves on Saturday, a minke whale came ashore Sunday in Corolla and two pygmy whales beached near Buxton on Monday.
Such mass strandings are rare for North Carolina beaches and, prior to that weekend's strandings, the largest documented stranding along the Tarheel coast since NOAA has been keeping records was that of three whales.
Did the sperm whales deposit themselves on the beach? Also, who is responsible for the clean up?
So why bother, maybe the left some living will that we do not understand...
Bush's fault
BTW do they taste good on the grill?
Now we know the sad trough folks, whales have been beaching themselves all these years due to global warming.
Maybe they are trying to EVOLVE!!!!!
Should read = Now we know the sad trough folks, whales have been beaching themselves all these years to PROTEST global warming.
dunno....Ask Iron Chef, Marimoto....
maybe a little Soy Sauce....an gallon worth.
sweet pic
Those little squirts!
Undoubtedly evidence of Global Warming.... Bush's fault! (/sarc)
Pilot whale is a Faeroe Island tradition. GanfGreen types hyperventilate in unison at the annual hunt. They are wise enough to not attempt to interfere, though.
Must be the Greenie's reptilian hind brain advising against irritating a man with a flensing knife in hand.
"GangGreen", not "GanfGreen" Sorry 'bout that.
North Carolina ping
pygmy sperm whales
Have they ever figured out why it is their sperm is so small?
the article failed to mention that Hatteras is the Grave Yard of the Atlantic.
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