tursiops.org - Beached mom and calf whales euthanased. South Africa

lauricedeephd writes "Two pygmy sperm whales, which washed ashore near Strandfontein in False Bay yesterday, were put down by the authorities after it became apparent that they were unlikely to survive.

The animals, an adult female and youngster, appeared to be mother and calf. It is not known why the animals beached.

Pygmy sperm whales are common, but because of their unobtrusive behaviour, are very seldom seen at sea. Most information about them comes from strandings.

Craig Lambinon from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said the organisation had been alerted by Transnet early yesterday that the whales were ashore at Blue Waters, between Strandfontein Pavilion and Mnandi Beach.

"When we got there, they were on the sand, about a kilometre apart," he said.

Mike Meyer from Marine and Coastal Management was called to the scene.

"They were still alive, and the adult was in a pretty bad way. There was no reaction or resistance to touch and she was breathing poorly. She was quite high up on the sand, so I imagine she came in on the spring high tide. The calf was lower down on the sand, so it probably came in later, as the tide receded.

"The calf was more lively than the adult, but it was damaged. The skin was off the ventral area, the stomach area, I guess from injuries when coming ashore. It probably rolled around a lot. It was quite bruised as well. The adult had a chunk of her lower jaw missing. It was a fresh wound. We got the vets to examine them and they said it was totally impossible to save them, they were too far gone," Meyer said.

With the help of NSRI, the animals were put on to stretchers and carried to the NSRI station 16.

"We had a mattress for the adult. It took about 15 people to carry it.

"We euthanased them with drugs.

"They've got a lot of blubber, so it's quite difficult and it's a slow process. Basically, it's a sedation," he said.

The pygmy sperm whale is closely related to the larger sperm whale, and both have a single blowhole.

A full biological analysis will be done on the two whales.

This was also done on the pygmy sperm whale that beached at Muizenberg some weeks ago, which was found to have a very high parasite load and two septic areas in the muscle of the chest.

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php"