Monday was anything but an ordinary day at work- a pygmy sperm whale had stranded on Sunday, alive, and was too sick to rehab, so it was euthanized. This picture isn't the exact whale but one that looked like it (I'm hoping to get some pictures of our whale in the near future). He was a mature adult whale, almost 20' long, and weighing upwards of 800 pounds. We performed a necropsy and discovered that this animal had been sick for a while, likely stranding more than once. Many times, tourists think that pushing a whale back into the water is the right thing to do when actually it can cause more trauma to the ailing animal. When they are pushed back into the water, oftentimes they will float along until they work up enough strength to strand again on another beach.
It is estimated that of this particular species, combined with the dwarf sperm whale which looks almost identical, there are only about 300 individuals in the Atlantic Ocean (and about the same number in the Pacific). Sperm whales have only been seen alive and well a total of 11 times, so not too much is actually known about these guys. They are super-deep divers, since they eat only squid, so spotting them at the surface is pretty unusual.
Teams from Virginia Beach and Wilmington came to check out the whale and collect samples from different organs, etc. Pretty schnazy!
Tonight we debated over delivery pizza from the place with a coupon, stone oven pizza that we requires pick up, or going to the store to get a frozen pizza... and ended up making our own from scratch! Just like last time, Ben was the dough-master and used the cathedral ceilings in our new kitchen to his tossing advantage! Its currently baking in the oven, with the delicious smell wafting through the whole house, while the wind and rain of tropical storm Danny persist outside our windows. This storm has turned out to be no big deal (so far!) but its a good excuse to sit inside, watch tv with the family (two with furry tails and a shelled-one), and drink beers. Cheers!
Monday was anything but an ordinary day at work- a pygmy sperm whale had stranded on Sunday, alive, and was too sick to rehab, so it was euthanized. This picture isn't the exact whale but one that looked like it (I'm hoping to get some pictures of our whale in the near future). He was a mature adult whale, almost 20' long, and weighing upwards of 800 pounds. We performed a necropsy and discovered that this animal had been sick for a while, likely stranding more than once. Many times, tourists think that pushing a whale back into the water is the right thing to do when actually it can cause more trauma to the ailing animal. When they are pushed back into the water, oftentimes they will float along until they work up enough strength to strand again on another beach.
The National Wildlife Federation is looking for a new animal to represent global warming. Learn more about the critters here, then vote for your favorite!
