Thank You Alisa Schulman-Janiger for sharing the preliminary report on the necropsy of Rhapsody....we need to restore abundant healthy prey resources ASAP and change our eating habits, try and make environmentally conscious choices when buying seafood. J32 Rhapsody Update: Preliminary Necropsy Report, by Ken Balcomb (Center for Whale Research). A large group of orcas were sighted offshore the Bates Beach area, Vancouver Island on December 3. She likely died there late in the day, and was found floating near the beach the next morning. Her full-term female fetus apparently died before her, and was disintegrating, likely leading to her death as she was unable to expel it. She had an enlarged spleen and lymph node, suggesting infection. blubber layer was relatively thin and dry of oil is consistent with inadequate diet for an extended period, and there was very little fecal material in the intestines.Ken states: I think we must restore abundant healthy prey resources ASAP if these whales are to have any chance of avoiding extinction. The critical point for their recovery may already have passed. I hope not, but it will soon pass if we do not take immediate action. There are only about a dozen reproductively viable females remaining in this population and very little possible recruitment to this cohort within the next few years.. More details here.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:15:13 +0000
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