As mentioned in a previous post, on the 29 of August a group of pygmy killer whales, at first believed to be melon headed whales, was reported to be stranded at Sugar Beach on Maui’s south shore.
One of them was a calf found alive but that died later. “We do have some preliminary results, specifically to the calf in this group, and we have confirmed that the calf was sick with pneumonia. So it was struggling with a significant respiratory infection,” said Dr. Kristi West, HPU Biology professor.
Scientists say pygmy killer whales are extremely social animals, and they tend to stick together with a sick member of the group, and that may have caused the stranding.
The other animals were found in shock and stressed but showed no visible sign of injury or illness, but NOAA Marine Animal Response team are still waiting for lab results.
It was planned to release the animals back out to the sea in groups, but 4 of them had to be euthanized, after several failed attempts. The four animals had an empty stomach, indicating that they had not eaten in a few days, a possible sign of illness in these animals.
For more information: https://www.sancet.org/blog/mass-stranding-in-hawaii
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