Ocean Autopsies: what whale, dolphin deaths tell us

Gabriel Margasak, TC Palm 9 Nov 07

Harbor Branch necropsy lab one of handful in nation tracking oceans' health through denizens' deaths

FORT PIERCE — The bloody work behind the science of ocean health happens in an uncommon marine mammal medical examiner’s office that sometimes resembles a scene straight out of a Halloween horror flick.

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution’s necropsy lab is where top scientists meticulously perform the equivalent of a human autopsy on whales, dolphins and all sorts of aquatic life to understand how what affects them can affect us.

“We have a web going through every living organism on this planet, and we’re starting to see some serious signs that suggest the oceans are having problems,” Harbor Branch’s Senior Scientist Dr. Gregory Bossart said. “And a lot of these problems could come back and impact us.”

Those impacts — such as people getting sick from the water — are why this high-tech research morgue exists. The facility, which handles animals brought in from all over the southeast coast of Florida, is one of perhaps less than 10 of its kind across the nation, say the researchers who work there.

And the gross anatomy in the lab has led Bossart and noted colleagues to a plethora of discoveries that help tell the story of ocean health and the state of the Indian River Lagoon.

Last week, Bossart’s team discovered another pygmy sperm whale died from congestive heart failure, the same type that kills people.

Last month, they found lagoon dolphins had high levels of the most toxic form of mercury, called methylmercury, which has been linked to birth defects in humans and cancer in marine mammals.

And a team headed by Steve McCulloch, Harbor Branch’s marine mammal stranding program manager, discovered an alarming number of other diseases and ailments in the dolphins.

McCulloch remembered the days when such work was performed on a makeshift, outdoor concrete slab where you “put on the mosquito repellent and bent over for eight hours.”

He was the principle pioneer of the lab in 2001.

“It’s probably one of the finest necropsy labs for marine mammals on the planet,” he said.

The research done here frequently is published in scientific journals.

And the whole necropsy process can be broadcast to researchers from Latin America to Africa using an advanced video system, said Bossart, who began his career studying human pathology in Miami.

“So what you see here today is patterned very similar to what the medical examiner’s office in Dade County would do if they had a person wind up on the beach dead,” he said, “except the patient is 600 pounds and 9 feet long.”

Then, Bossart, who is also Harbor Branch’s chief marine mammal veterinarian, cut into just such a patient that washed ashore in Vero Beach recently.

During a three-hour necropsy, doctors initially determined the male pygmy sperm whale had died from cardiomyopathy, marked by muscle damage caused by stress on his heart.

“I think if you look at the DNA, it’s only a few percent difference between us and them,” said Dr. Glenn Tremml, medical director of the emergency department of Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach, who assisted with the necropsy. “Certain problems they have that we have, like this cardiomyopathy, is a common problem we see in humans.”

During a busy year, the lab might handle 10 necropsies a month, said Kenny Kroell, the lab manager and published researcher.

A full work-up of a pygmy sperm whale can cost about $5,000.

Money for such work comes from the sale of specialized wild dolphin and whale Florida license plates, fundraising efforts and private donors.

The dolphin plate, the most popular, brings about $1.7 million a year to Harbor Branch, McCulloch said. The whale plate adds about $600,000 more.

Harbor Branch shares a portion of that money with other research institutions such as the University of Florida and the Smithsonian, along with scientists and students working on their theses. That leaves Harbor Branch’s necropsy lab, extensive dolphin research program and 12 staff with about a $2.5 million yearly budget.

“$2.5 million is not a lot of money at the end of the day for the science we produce,” McCulloch said.

All data collected go into government and Harbor Branch databases for future study, critical to finding any solutions.

“Well first, you generate the data and then you start to educate the public and the politicians that influence how we treat the ocean ...” Bossart said. “I think these animals have a lot to teach us about, not only us, but the health of our environment. ... Not only are we learning about these whales and dolphins and manatees, but we’re learning about the environment, environmental issues that could potentially come back and haunt us.”