{"id":4284,"date":"2023-11-12T15:45:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T20:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/?p=4284"},"modified":"2023-11-12T15:45:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T20:45:02","slug":"an-unnecessary-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/2023\/an-unnecessary-death\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018An Unnecessary Death\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for a whale or dolphin to be found washed ashore at a North Carolina beach \u2014 it happens about 125 times a year. But when a Gervais\u2019 beaked whale washed ashore in October at Emerald Isle, N.C, it was obvious something was amiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That species is typically found \u201cway, way off shore,\u201d says Vicky Thayer, an adjunct faculty member at the College of Veterinary Medicine who teaches marine mammal biology at NC State\u2019s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST)<\/a> in Morehead City, N.C. \u201cThis whale was way out of its habitat,\u201d says Thayer, who is also a volunteer marine mammal stranding coordinator. \u201cYou would never see them at the beach if they were healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whale was alive when it was found, but it died before Thayer and others could get to it. The 671-pound body was taken to the CMAST facility, where a necropsy was performed by Thayer and a team of veterinarians, technicians and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything looked normal until Thayer cut into the stomach and found a pentagon-shaped plastic balloon \u2014 the kind used to celebrate birthdays and graduations. It was crumpled up and blocking passage of anything through the whale\u2019s gastrointestinal tract. \u201cSo the body couldn\u2019t get nutrients the way it normally does,\u201d Thayer says. Milk was found in the stomach, a sign that the whale had been a nursing calf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Balloon photo by K. Rittmaster, N.C. Maritime Museum\/Bonehenge Whale Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thayer felt what she called a deep sadness. \u201cBecause it was a young animal, and I thought of the animal\u2019s mother, wondering what happened to her calf,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then just a deep frustration that this was an unnecessary death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why Thayer asks that people refrain from releasing balloons into the air to celebrate or memorialize special occasions. \u201cPlease find an alternative way to honor your loved one,\u201d she says. \u201cMost people wouldn\u2019t drive down the highway and throw trash out of the window. This is the same thing, and possibly worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To report a stranded marine mammal:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.C. Outer Banks – 252-455-9654<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central N.C. coast – 252-241-5119<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern N.C. coast – 910-515-7354<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for a whale or dolphin to be found washed ashore at a North Carolina beach \u2014 it happens about 125 times a year. But when a Gervais\u2019 beaked whale washed ashore in October at Emerald Isle, N.C, it was obvious something was amiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That species is typically found \u201cway, way off shore,\u201d says Vicky Thayer, an adjunct faculty member at the College of Veterinary Medicine who teaches marine mammal biology at NC State\u2019s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST)<\/a> in Morehead City, N.C. \u201cThis whale was way out of its habitat,\u201d says Thayer, who is also a volunteer marine mammal stranding coordinator. \u201cYou would never see them at the beach if they were healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whale was alive when it was found, but it died before Thayer and others could get to it. The 671-pound body was taken to the CMAST facility, where a necropsy was performed by Thayer and a team of veterinarians, technicians and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything looked normal until Thayer cut into the stomach and found a pentagon-shaped plastic balloon \u2014 the kind used to celebrate birthdays and graduations. It was crumpled up and blocking passage of anything through the whale\u2019s gastrointestinal tract. \u201cSo the body couldn\u2019t get nutrients the way it normally does,\u201d Thayer says. Milk was found in the stomach, a sign that the whale had been a nursing calf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Balloon photo by K. Rittmaster, N.C. Maritime Museum\/Bonehenge Whale Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thayer felt what she called a deep sadness. \u201cBecause it was a young animal, and I thought of the animal\u2019s mother, wondering what happened to her calf,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then just a deep frustration that this was an unnecessary death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why Thayer asks that people refrain from releasing balloons into the air to celebrate or memorialize special occasions. \u201cPlease find an alternative way to honor your loved one,\u201d she says. \u201cMost people wouldn\u2019t drive down the highway and throw trash out of the window. This is the same thing, and possibly worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To report a stranded marine mammal:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.C. Outer Banks - 252-455-9654<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central N.C. coast - 252-241-5119<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern N.C. coast - 910-515-7354<\/em><\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A CMAST professor sees firsthand how human carelessness damages sea life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":4288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"backgroundColor\":\"blue_400\",\"displayCategoryID\":6,\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"A CMAST professor sees firsthand how human carelessness damages sea life.\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[118,222,266,276,278,1226,1254],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-4284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-bets","category-stories","tag-balloons","tag-center-for-marine-sciences-and-technology","tag-cmast","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-college-of-veterinary-medicine","tag-vicky-thayer","tag-whales"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":6,"name":"Campus Lens","slug":"campus-lens","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4284"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=4284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}