Working with the BDMLR

Who I am and what I do, my name is Gilli Graham, I am a 27 year old mum of one with a simple passion for the oceans and doing all I can to protect and conserve them. I aspire to be a marine biologist and zoologist. I am a also a Volunteer for an Organisation called the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/).

The BDMLR were founded in 1988, in response to the mass mortality of Harbour seals in the Wash area of East Anglia, a group of Divers teamed up to do what they could for the rescue effort. Since then, the BDMLR have been involved in the rescue of marine wildlife after every major marine disaster in and around the UK. Seal rescue's are a major component to the work that the BDMLR continue to do and with the main species of seal around the UK this means our medics are called out at all times of year. The BDMLR have helped hundreds of seals since they began in '88, with the charity working hand in hand with many specialised rehabilitation facilities, and It is with the continued support from other wildlife conservation groups and the hard work of all the medics that we are able to continue to do the work we do. We also work in response to strandings of cetaceans from small harbour porpoise to mighty sperm Whales protecting, rescuing and rehabilitating marine mammals.

The work I personally do for the BDMLR includes helping with our out of hours phone lines, to receive the calls from members of the public or emergency services in response to a marine mammal being injured, stranded or other incidents and then to locate medics and run the logistics of the rescue (which can be as simple as arranging a placement for a seal at a sanctuary to arranging a mass stranding of pilot whales and arranging equipment, medics, vetenary assistance etc). I also am a Marine Mammal Medic and instruct on the courses and also Moderate the general forums. I have been to many rescue's each one differing greatly to the next, they are never glamorous, always challenging but can be most rewarding.

BDMLR is a registered charity, number 803438 in England and Wales, and SC039304 in Scotland.

I have written a few articles for the BDMLR news letter and will be publishing them here on Ocean Blogspot and this is the first of these.

Pegwell Sperm Whale:
by Gilli Graham

On 3 March 2011 I received a call from Jon Brooks (BDMLR Thanet area Coordinator) explaining the situation regarding a stranded sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). So I set off to the harbour, where I met up with Brett Lewis and Sam (Jon's Boat guy), we were joined by Jon and Janice Denyer (BDMLR medic) and went out in the BDMLR boat Amanda to get a closer and accurate description of the whale's condition.

We approached the whale and could see that he was sadly dead. There was no movement in the water other than the tail slowly swaying with the waves. This was a very sad sight to see, we circled the whale many times ensuring he was grounded and not going to be washed away or moved too far by the tide. We stayed with the whale taking photographs and watching his movement whilst the tide went out until it became too shallow for the boat. We then returned to harbour and drove to Pegwell Bay where we could get closer to the whale. We then waited for the experts from the ZSL (Zoological Society London), Rob Deaville and Matt Perkins to take samples to for post-mortem.

The whale looked in fair condition with no evidence of injury that could have caused the stranding, during this time the police and coastguard set up a perimeter to contain the public access. Seeing this huge whale lying on the beach was definitely a surreal experience. The ZSL organised their equipment to take samples and also received a call from a channel 4 film company explaining that they wanted to come along and basically film an entire necropsy of the whale, so ZSL decided to wait for the film crew to get there. I explained how it was my first ever whale sighting encounter and experience to the experts from the ZSL and how it looked so surreal out of water, they then allowed me to get some gloves on and feel the whale. They then measured the whale he was 13.8 meters. He appeared to be very fresh and lacked the expected aroma, which I was very grateful for!

When the film crew arrived; the ZSL began to take their samples, I offered my help (expecting to carry something or move things) and was amazed that they allowed me to assist in taking blood samples and collecting tissue and muscle samples. The ZSL began extracting some teeth, this was a very long process and very hard work! Eventually the coastguard made us all aware that it was time to go. It was finally time to leave the beach and warm up for a bit, although I had to return for 2.00am. On 4 March, 12.30am I got ready to head out again, I got to the hover port about 1.35am, after waiting for about 10 minutes the coastguard and police appeared. Then when Rob from the ZSL arrived he noticed that in the night the whale had moved with the tide a bit further along the beach and came down to investigate. The film crew arrived at around 3.00am, and started to set up etc. We then all got kitted up for a messy day!

Once everything was ready they began to remove a large section of blubber from below the pectoral fin to access the organs and ribs; whilst peeling back the blubber they used an unexpected tool, a digger! Rob cut a hole into the blubber and looped through a band in which to attach to the diggers hook and thus pull the blubber away whilst they cut it away from the muscle below. The body of the whale was still very warm and thus the blood flowed very smoothly.

Once the blubber and the muscle were removed the liver was cut, with the most horrendous smell I have ever experienced although I was so relieved that my stomach held up! That said the stomach was next, there were three stomachs, one very thick in texture all the cells where full of gas it looked very odd, but was completely bare no food anywhere to be seen. The second stomach was smoother in texture and also bare; the third was full with tainted fluids which also had an aroma to them. There were parasites found in numerous parts of the body and even some cysts in the blubber. It was certainly a shocking experience but so unique and for me personally a great learning curve and opportunity.

The tide was on the turn at this point; the intestines, stomachs, and liver had all been removed from the carcass, and the ZSL had been able to get samples of all of these including the spleen for toxicology and biology. The ribs were then cracked to get access to the whale's heart. Unfortunately the tide was upon us and we had to leave the beach! The ZSL then headed back to London, but it was great to meet them. I then walked back to Ramsgate harbour to meet Jon Brooks and give him a little update.


When I went back to the beach again, we were all very relieved that the whale had not shifted. The Channel 4 film crew who were filming a new series of "Inside Nature's Giants" got stuck straight back in, (by now I was sat and observing after being asked by the film crew) with some assistance from students from the Natural History Museum but time was very short, as everyone had to be off the beach before the next tide. The crew began to cut away to reveal the millions of nerves and tendons around the skull, which was incredible to see! After more hard work opening the ribs the crew and students managed to get the heart out in one peace and what a huge heart it was!

By 6.00pm all of the necessary work was done, bar the removal of the carcass, so I decided it was time to head home. By now my legs were stiff and sore with my feet hurting, but I do not regret a second of it, it was an amazing opportunity and an amazing experience, I am so proud to be a member of  BDMLR and to be able to watch, learn and assist with the experts from ZSL and to be in the presence of this amazing mammal.

In addition to the above report via Jon Brooks the initial call came into him at 6.55am from Dover coastguard. He then rang Karen Kirk (on call coordinator) and arranged for himself and medic Janice Denyer to go down. As the tide was coming in they could not get close to the whale and as it was in an upright condition it was impossible to tell if at that time it was still alive. They then went back to Ramsgate, where Myself, Brett Lewis and Horizon Sea Safari skipper Sam Goldfinch joined them and went back to the whale in BDMLR boat Amanda, to discover the whale was already dead.

 

Highlighting just how big this whale was!

 *All pictures in this article courtesy of Brett Lewis Photography ©

Katrin and Matt would like to thank Gilli for her article and we will have more of her experiences with the BDMLR soon!