The Dauphin Island Sea Lab has released the results of the post-mortem exam of the sperm whale that stranded in Mobile Bay late last year, and the findings point to chronic malnourishment as the likely cause of the animal’s decline.
The necropsy — the animal version of an autopsy — was conducted under federal permit by the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network (ALMMSN) to determine why a creature that normally lives in deep ocean waters ended up inside Mobile Bay. The whale showed signs of having gone weeks or even months without eating.
ALMMSN veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Bloodgood described the animal as a young adult male more than 33 feet long and weighing over 32,000 pounds. Stranding photographs of its tail were matched by NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center to a whale previously photographed in 2012 nearly 200 miles off southwestern Florida, suggesting the animal was between 12 and 20 years old.
The whale was first reported to ALMMSN on November 19, 2020, near Weeks Bay and stranded multiple times within Mobile Bay over the following days. Veterinarians, coordinating with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, determined that euthanasia was the most humane outcome. The necropsy found the animal in very thin condition with empty stomach chambers containing only indigestible hard parts such as squid beaks and crustacean shell fragments. Infectious disease, marine debris and trauma were ruled out, though contaminant testing remains pending.
Researchers collected more than 450 samples to learn more about Gulf of Mexico sperm whales. The species is protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with fewer than 800 individuals thought to live in the Gulf and only about two strandings a year on average — this was the first live sperm whale ever to strand in Alabama.
The case underscores the value of quickly reporting sick, injured or dead marine mammals. Anyone who finds a stranded marine mammal in Alabama is asked to call ALMMSN at 1-877-WHALE-HELP as soon as possible.