In a short article, emergency marine mammal veterinarian Dr Sharp explains what happens during the rescue of a mink whale.
The emergency calls come unexpected, often at unusual times like early in the morning. In this case, a mink whale had stranded on a nearby beach – and it was alive. After gathering the necessary equipment, the team heads out to first examine the scene. Then, the whale itself is assessed for its health by examining its breathing pattern, reflexes, and some blood. If the bodily condition is deemed good enough, the rescue can take place.
In the case of such smaller whales or dolphins, a rescues’ success is much more likely than during a large whale stranding. In the latter case, the animals are often in too poor condition or simply too heavy to be logistically moveable. The smaller mink whale, however, was lucky. With the water rushing beneath it, the team was able to use pontoons to lift it back into deeper waters and release it.
Though, not before attaching a small temporary satellite tracker to its dorsal fin. This could be used to track the whale’s survival following release. The rescue mission thus did not end with the successful release of the mink whale, but they were able to follow the animal remotely across the Caribbean, the Gulf Stream, and the United States. A journey of “essentially the distance from London to Hawaii” in just 83 days.
With whale rescues, every situation and every animal is different. The team needs to be highly experienced to not put the mammal in danger and constantly assess what the best possible way is and what should be improved in the future. The tracking data could thus be used to evaluate whether the team made the right decision and inform rescue operations in the future.
The full article can be found here: https://www.capecod.com/lifestyle/rescuing-a-minke-whale-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-the-action-on-the-ground/
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