Whales Euthanized After Washing Ashore (result of offshore degradation)

[NVMojo]

we are just wasting this planet and its inhabitants ...

HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla. (AP) - Three whales that washed ashore on South Hutchinson Island had to be euthanized after scientists determined the animals were too sick to be saved.

Martin County fire and rescue officials spent more than an hour Wednesday evening trying to keep the melon-headed whales in the surf near Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge, a historic landmark on the barrier island east of Stuart.

The three whales, each about 7 feet long, appeared thin and malnourished, and at least one appeared to have been bitten by a shark.

Dr. Greg Bossart, director of marine mammal research and conservation at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, said the animals likely belong to the same pod as a dead melon-headed whale that washed ashore Wednesday morning in Vero Beach.

It was the first time he had seen the species swim ashore in Florida.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2006/mar/30/033003985.html

[DanCa]

1. Disgusting absolutely disgusting ...

"They say the sea is cold but the sea contains the hottest blood," Whales weep not.

[Divernan]

2. Hope they autopsy one to determine cause of illness.

My first suspect in whale groundings is always navy SONAR games. But if these whales were extremely thin, it could have been something else - contamination of their food source (lots of chemicals and pollution washed into the Gulf due to the hurricanes), or lack of food. To see a whale breach, or to hear their "songs" - incredibly moving experience.

[NVMojo]

3. my husband wondered about the HARP sites ...tragedy ...

[Boomer]

4. Ocean mammals are starving to death

It's not just whales, it's also sea bird populations, and sharks and basically any species dependent on fish populations, which have been scoured from the oceans due to commercial fishing or that are starving to death themselves due to plummeting plankton levels.

The oceans are going to be bereft of life soon.