Sea Lab defends euthanasia; sperm whale pulled from Mobile Bay (al.com)
Updated Nov 29, 2020; Posted Nov 27, 2020
By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com
After an outpouring of concern and some social media criticism, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab has further explained and defended the decision to end the life of the first sperm whale known to have wandered into Mobile Bay.
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The decision to euthanize was made by biologists including staff from NOAA. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab posted the following explanation on its web site:
Euthanasia is by no means an easy option. It is physically and emotionally demanding. For biologists who spend their lives studying and working toward the conservation of these majestic animals, there are no easy options when a marine mammal strands. In all cases, we try to do what is right for the animal with the consideration of the safety of our team.
1. The animal was already in poor condition when it stranded, making survival highly unlikely for any marine mammal, but particularly problematic for large whales such as this one (>30 feet long, as much as 30,000 lbs) due to exposure and other stresses.
2. The animal is very far from its natural range, which is in waters > 200 meters deep at least 60+ miles offshore (likely more than 100 miles from where it stranded farthest north in Mobile Bay, near Montrose). This means that the animal was already showing an inability to orient itself over any of that distance.
3. The animal had opportunities to move in the bay during the subsequent week but re-stranded multiple times, further indicating a poor prognosis.
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more: https://www.al.com/news/2020/11/sea-lab-defends-euthanasia-dead-sperm-whale-pulled-from-mobile-bay.html
A sad ending to a somewhat mystifying case.
