Porpoise post mortem
By Gilli Graham
After the previous events with The sperm whale I had been patiently
awaiting an opportunity to go and visit my new found friends at the
(CSIP) ZSL. So on Wednesday I heard that Jon Brooks and Steve Green
would be travelling to London the following morning to attend a
Porpoise Post Mortem. (the porpoise they had received a call out for
on the previous Friday yes the day of the Royal wedding) she had
been euthanized due to her poor condition.
So after a lot of arranging, managed to hitch hike a ride with Steve
up to London . Unfortunately Jon was unable to attend. We arrived
and within moments realised we had a flat tyre. Great start! (due to the large
piece of metal Steve previously mentioned)
Rob met us from the front desk and we met up with Matt and
headed to the Post Mortem room.
On our way we where given warning about the "smell and
condition of the porpoise" also the risk of "fainting" so I decided to
do the classic "touch wood I don't faint lol" So deep breath and in
we went lab coats on and shoe covers.
Matt teased with the sound of the small circular Saw...lovely sound
(eeek) So the tiny porpoise laid on the table and we began the
examination.
I did find myself commenting on how organised they where on the
beach with the whale previously, as they had everything prepped in
the same manor.
first was the examination of the body in general such as surface
injuries and scars, also the rough age of the porpoise and
nutritional state (using length as a guide. Initial body/nutritional
condition and the sex were also determined.)
There where a few nicks that looked as though they could have
been caused by netting but nothing substantial.
a pale injury at the lower body/ tip of the tail, looking as though a
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| Image from National Geographic. |
substantial blood loss had occurred.
There was a strange bulge of what looked like air (gas of some
form) beneath the skin at the base on the right hand side of dorsal
fin. when the blubber layer was sliced Rob revealed a strange hole
through the blubber, with a small amount of pus, which was tested
for a potential bacteriological infection and also for toxicology.
As we continued examining the porpoise when the blubber was
removed from the left torso area we could see the rib cage strongly
protruding with very little muscle between each rib. She also had a
substantially thin layer of blubber, so that and the lack of muscle
gave us a hint that she had been suffering from malnutrition eating
away at her fat stores. One problem which porpoises and other
marine mammals can suffer with is...The Blubber (fat) readily
absorbs certain types of fat soluble toxins (such as PCB’s) so when
the body has to rely upon the fat stores for energy, the toxins are
mobilized in to the blood stream and this can affect the animals
Health. as we continued the examination we also found a shocking
amount of parasites in the throat and in the stomach.
all three stomachs where completely bare bar the parasites! which
filled the first stomach!, also present were a couple of small ulcers,
to which the parasites were attached, her heart looked very healthy,
but her liver and kidneys where paler than what would be expected.
this could also be from a substantial blood loss, or due to her
starvation, caused by the mobilization of fat in to the vital organs
(known as Nutmeg liver, due to the colour) Her lungs where
healthy but did contain a fair amount of foam and liquid.
as we got to the intestine we found a tape worm, This was then
passed on to Matt to search the rest of the intestine! "lovely",
looking for the head, which can then be used to identify the species.
We then went on to examine the brain... so being sent to a safe
distance as Rob used the small circular saw, when the coast was
clear we returned. May I just say by this point still no sign of
fatigue ! stronger stomach than I thought! This all appeared very
healthy. It was a very interesting and educational day. And although
it was sad to see such a young porpoise there on the table.. all the
evidence really did support the euthanasia.
If you are interested in the work of the BDMLR you can find them at http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/ and they are on Twitter at @BDMLR
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