[NatureNS] Sperm Whale

Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:21:13 -0300
From: Helene Van Doninck <hvandoninck@eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Hi Randy and all,

When I was in vet school we had 6 sperm whales beach and one was taken to a
local site for post mortem. Myself and 7 other students skipped classes that
day and went to observe and help. It was fascinating and caused quite a stir
in the local biology community. Pierre-Yves Daoust ( of AVC)was the main
pathologist and I bet if you contacted him he'd be over to help in a
heartbeat. It had already been deceased for 5 days when we got to it and to
say it smelled horrid is a gross understatement, but once you were there for
a bit it wasnt bad. I still remember a very brave CBC radio reporter coming
up to us for comments for an interview....all dressed in a suit. He asked us
a few questions and then quietly excused himself to go puke in some
bushes....then came back to continue the interview.

Take care

Helene

Helene Van Doninck DVM
Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
RR#1 Brookfield Nova Scotia Canada B0N1C0
hvandoninck@eastlink.ca
www.cwrc.net
http://cwrcblog.blogspot.com/
1-902-893-0253


-----Original Message-----
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]On Behalf Of Randy Lauff
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:09 PM
To: NatureNS
Subject: [NatureNS] Sperm Whale


Recently, I was alerted to the presence of a whale that had washed up
in Antigonish County prior to the winter ice-up. The whale is in the
intertidal, so I'm a bit worried of it becoming dislodged and swept
away. Hence, I have obtained a Department of Fisheries and Oceans
permit to get the salvage process directly underway. My team of
anatomy students and I have already spent about five hours on site.
What have we collected? We did not get three Norwegians, we did not
get two Swedes, we only got one fin.

We're due to go back very shortly and collect more; cutting through
blubber (which is much more than just fat) is a slow, knife-dulling
process.

http://people.stfx.ca/rlauff/personel/recent.html

I have alerted Hal Whitehead's team (he is a whale biologist at
Dalhousie who happens to work with Sperm Whales), and by extension,
the stranding network. According to Andrew Hebda at the Museum, this
is only the seventh-recorded beached Sperm Whale for the province. If
possible, I will be collecting enough material to share with the
NSMNH. I believe there is a representative from the Acadia museum on
this list...please get in touch with me. The same goes for other
universities with formal collections; you will all need permits for
any bits; I am not at liberty to hand away any pieces from this (or
any other) animal under the terms of my own permits.

I do not know how it died, there are no obvious marks to suggest
impact. I won't be getting into the stomach for awhile (if at
all)...once that is opened, I don't think working around it will be
olfactorily-pleasant.

To be able to work on such an animal is, for a zoologist with a
passion for anatomy, a once-in-a-career opportunity. The local man who
took us to the whale told me that I looked like a kid opening presents
at Christmas!

Randy
_________________________________
RF Lauff
Way in the boonies of
Antigonish County, NS.

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