Kaycie North

BIO 1615
Connor
Final Draft

Low-residue euthanasia of stranded

mysticetes(Whales)
The article I decided to read was about the toxicity, pharmaceutical, safety
and disposal challenges of euthanizing a beached whale. Euthanasia can be
defined as The act of inducing humane death and should result in rapid loss
of consciousness followed by cardiac or respiratory arrest and the ultimate
loss of brain function. (AVMA 2013) Once you have a beached whale, gravity
will start to impact the breathing and circulatory systems and it could be
days before the whale actually passes away and can be painful during that
process. The euthanasia of the whales were done with consultation with the
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) authorities. Scientists want to figure
out a way to be able to euthanize them without being toxic to the scavengers
of the land and cost effective way to do so. This paper talks about 5 cases of
the euthanized whales.
Case 1:
A 2 year old male whale calf was reported on January 26, 2009 but due to
the weather and location, the team was not able to reach the whale until the
29th. The whale had skin peeling and damage from scavengers when the
team found him. The response team administered many types of drugs
retrobulbar (behind the eye) and they also used isoflurane to relax the

Kaycie North
BIO 1615
Connor
Final Draft

animal. The drugs were unable to work properly, so the team had to cut the
base of the tail and bled him out and took him 2 hours and 3 minutes from
drug administered to the cutting of the tail. This case was determined
unsatisfactory but was only acceptable because the team was able to stop
the whale from suffering any longer.
Case 2:
A juvenile, male humpback was reported on May 15, 2010 with labored
breathing, blistered and scavenged. This time, the response team
administered less drugs and over a 60 minute period left the whale minimally
responsive. The whale was hooked up to an ECG machine and the machine
went from a normal rhythm, to a sinusoidal wave, to fibrillation and finally to
a flat line. The whale expired 1 hour 39 minutes after the first drug was
administered.
Case 3:
A juvenile, male humpback washed up on March 8, 2011 and the response
team was able to get to him on the 9th. The whale was found with deep
gashes. But due to the limited daylight and personal team safety, the team
had to return the next morning. The drugs were administered over 91
minutes and left the whale unresponsive. They also gave a KC] injection over
the course of 22 minutes. The whale expired after 2.3 hours.
Case 4:

Kaycie North
BIO 1615
Connor
Final Draft

A male minke whale calf was found stranded January 25, 2012 with blisters
over 35% of the dorsal body. The drugs were administered over 40 minutes
and was also had an ECG. The ECG was normal until KC] was given. It only
took the whale 48 minutes to pass from the first injection of drugs. The drugs
were higher doses because of the short remaining daylight. The whale was
not tested for drug residue. With a necropsy done, the response team
determined there was still milk in the stomach, which they believe was a
maternal separation that caused the stranding.
Case 5:
A female juvenile humpback was reported on June 10, 2013. The drugs were
given over 66 miniutes and then a KC] injection. The whale passed 1 hour 49
minutes after the first drug was given. Drug residue was not determined.

The rest of the paper talks about how and why certain things were done and
why it was done in the order it was. It also talks about the drugs themselves
and the impact they have on an animal.