Baby whale’s death
remains a mystery

A veterinarian could only
say for sure that the
whale was anemic

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

KAILUA-KONA >> A preliminary necropsy performed on a female baby sperm whale that died after stranding on the North Kona shore Sunday showed nothing specific that could have caused her death, said veterinarian Robert Braun.

The results of the necropsy, similar to an autopsy, were revealed yesterday following the baby's death Monday night.

"Even now, after doing a necropsy, the results are unrevealing as to the cause of death and the cause of stranding, which is commonly the case," Braun said.

The one solid piece of information was that the week-old baby was anemic, meaning she did not have many red blood cells, Braun said. Anemia would have decreased the baby's strength. "It's possible that she couldn't keep up (with her mother)," Braun said.

Veterinarian Teri Rowles of the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program in Washington, D.C., told Braun that the baby's red blood cell count may have been extremely low.

Brown said he does not have enough information to make that judgment.

Another comment was that the baby, 10 1/2 feet long, was too small, possibly premature. Braun called that possible but speculation. The male baby sperm that stranded at Clearwater, Fla., about a week ago is just 10 feet long and is still alive there, he said.

The Kona baby had no obvious problems such as parasites, said Delores Clark, a spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu. She had two small, round bites on her and some superficial scrapes, Clark said.

Braun said the baby's tissues are being sent to four laboratories on the mainland, and some results are expected in about two weeks. A study of the baby's ears has to be done slowly and could take eight months, he said.

Braun revealed that the baby stopped breathing for about six minutes while being transported at about 2 a.m. Monday to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii on a mattress in a pickup truck. Volunteers were able to massage her back to breathing again.

When she stopped breathing again at about 6:30 p.m. Monday, Braun and others tried for about half an hour to revive her, using several drugs, but she died shortly before 7 p.m.