Title
Post-mortem findings in southern right whales Eubalaena australis at Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, 2003-2012
Author(s)
McAloose, D.;Rago, M. V.;Di Martino, M.;Chirife, A.;Olson, S. H.;Beltramino, L.;Pozzi, L. M.;Musmeci, L.;La Sala, L.;Mohamed, N.;Sala, J. E.;Bandieri, L.;Andrejuk, J.;Tomaszewicz, A.;Seimon, T.;Sironi, M.;Samartino, L. E.;Rowntree, V.;Uhart, M. M.
Published
2016
Publisher
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02986
Abstract
Between 2003 and 2012, 605 southern right whales (SRW; Eubalaena australis) were found dead along the shores of Peninsula Valdes (PV), Argentina. These deaths included alarmingly high annual losses between 2007 and 2012, a peak number of deaths (116) in 2012, and a significant number of deaths across years in calves-of-the-year (544 of 605 [89.9%]; average = 60.4 yr-1). Post-mortem examination and pathogen testing were performed on 212 whales; 208 (98.1%) were calves-of-the-year and 48.0% of these were newborns or neonates. A known or probable cause of death was established in only a small number (6.6%) of cases. These included ship strike in a juvenile and blunt trauma or lacerations (n = 5), pneumonia (n = 4), myocarditis (n = 2), meningitis (n = 1), or myocarditis and meningitis (n = 1) in calves. Ante-mortem gull parasitism was the most common gross finding. It was associated with systemic disease in a single 1-2 mo old calf. Immunohistochemical labeling for canine distemper virus, Toxoplasma gondii and Brucella spp., and PCR for cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV), influenza A, and apicomplexan protozoa were negative on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung and brain samples from a subset of whales; PCR for Brucella spp. was positive in a newborn/neonate with pneumonia. Skin samples from whales with gull parasitism were PCR negative for CeMV, poxvirus, and papillomavirus. This is the first long-term study to investigate and summarize notable post-mortem findings in the PV SRW population. Consistent, significant findings within or between years to explain the majority of deaths and those in high-mortality years remain to be identified.

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