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Beaked whale loses fight
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The Northern bottlenose whale that recently stranded off the coast of Hampshire, UK was eventually euthanised. It became grounded on harbour flats in Langstone after becoming lost. |
The animal wouldn’t have eaten for at least 48 hours and blood samples from the whale showed it was suffering from irreversible renal failure caused by dehydration and muscle damage which would have been a contributing factor from when it was stranded. The whale is the same species as the one stranded in the River Thames in 2006.
Marine Connection’s Liz Sandeman reports “Any stranded cetacean around the UK is of great concern to the charity but when I hear it’s a bottlenose whale which has got into problems, it takes me back to the day I spent hours on the river with the female whale which came up the Thames. There are many dolphins and whales that get stranded around the UK coastlines but it seems the bigger the animal, the more interest the media and general public take. Sadly there is no coming back from renal failure for these whales and it was only matter of time for this majestic animal – a sad day for all those involved and the whale of course ”.
Northern bottlenose whale are deep diving creatures, feeding on or near the sea floor so this animal would have been miles off course as it’s usually found off areas like the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic. The Marine Connection would like to applaud colleagues from British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the firefighters who took part in the rescue attempt.
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