Hundreds of southern right\u00a0whale calves have been washing up dead on the coastline of Peninsula Vald\u00e9s, Patagonia, since June this year and experts are desperate to find out why.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe record of an unusually high number of dead southern right whale calves off the coast of Peninsula Vald\u00e9s has generated deep concern throughout the community,\u201d says the Whale Conservation Institute\u00a0in a\u00a0statement.<\/p>\n
Mass mortalities of young whales have been seen in this region before but this one may be even bigger than past events. \u201c113 calves were killed in 2012, the highest number documented so far for the species, both locally and globally,\u201d adds the Whale Conservation Institute. \u201cPreliminary records from this year would indicate that it could be an event of an even larger scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further study is still needed to solve the mystery but some have suggested the culprit might be a bacterial infection. The potential cause is gruesome.<\/p>\n
Experts suspect the young whales may have died from infection caused by seabirds pecking at their skin and eating them alive.<\/p>\n
Kelp gulls are known to land on the back of southern right whales, peck holes in their skin and feast on the skin and blubber. The whales\u2019 calorie-dense blubber is a fantastic source of energy for the seabirds.<\/p>\n
Scientists first noticed this behaviour around the\u00a01970s\u00a0and it just got worse. \u201cThe percentage of mothers and calves with lesions caused by gulls increased from 2% in the 1970s to 99% in the 2000s,\u201d write the authors of a 2023 paper in\u00a0Biology Letters<\/em>.<\/p>\n The birds also increasingly went after young whales rather than adults. \u201cInitially, calves were rarely attacked by gulls but, since the mid-1990s, calves have become the main targets of attacks and their average wound severity has increased,\u201d write the study authors.<\/p>\n When they try to swim away from the birds\u2019 harassment, the whales use up vital energy that should fuel their journey to the feeding grounds.<\/p>\n The open wounds can also get infected. In a 2016 study in the journal\u00a0Diseases of Aquatic Organisms<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>scientists found evidence that nasty bacteria can get in through the lesions made during gull attacks. \u201cDuring the 2013 whale season, several calves were reported showing kelp gull injuries with a swollen area surrounded by rhomboid-shaped raised edges,\u201d the authors write in the paper.<\/p>\n When the researchers analysed samples taken from the wounds, they detected\u00a0bacteria\u00a0called\u00a0Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae,\u00a0<\/em>which can cause\u00a0skin disease\u00a0and sepsis in whales and dolphins. These can sometimes be\u00a0fatal.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n This 2016 study was the first evidence that \u201cthese wounds may act as an entry route for pathogens,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n Researchers are now wondering if this new wave of deaths could be to do with gull-inflicted injuries that have become\u00a0infected.<\/p>\n Getting to the bottom of what\u2019s going on will take time because scientists need to collect and analyse samples as well as looking into other potential factors that could be affecting survival rates.<\/p>\n \u201cStudies are needed in the waters of the Nuevo and San Jos\u00e9 gulfs to investigate environmental conditions that could affect the whales’ survival and welfare,\u201d writes the Whale Conservation Institute. \u201cIt is also essential to systematically survey the coasts to establish how many dead animals are recorded, avoid duplications and characterise the event spatially and temporally.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
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