The annual is taking a toll on some whales. While the giants of the ocean may look indestructible, those struggling to make the journey are succumbing to , sickness, entanglement, and of course When it comes to illness, there’s a tiny parasite that can be an indicator of whale health. When shrimp-like lice are seen in large numbers on a whale’s skin, they’re a clue the animal could be unwell.
The juvenile humpback whale discovered beached in Northern NSW on Thursday morning was emaciated and had a substantial covering of lice. Photographed by local whale watching tour operator David Jaeger at Fingal Head, the animal had no identifiable injuries. “We make our money off these beautiful animals, and obviously it's a bit distressing when you're seeing their dead on the beach.
But it is nature,” the operator told Yahoo News. “You can see in the photos how underweight it was. But there were no fresh shark bite marks on the whale whatsoever — he’d washed in nice and clean.
“There were no marks or bumps, just a lot of sea lice. And any time you see a whale that’s malnourished they’re usually covered in sea lice." Because a necropsy hasn’t been carried out on the whale the exact reason for its death will never be known.
compares whales to a “floating buffet” for the lice. As the whale moves through its environment, they will pick up algae that attaches to its body. They will also sometimes eat flaking skin and cause minor irritation.
“With relatively healthy animals we tend to see some lice, but just not in large numbers,” she told Yahoo. There are several theories as to why sick whales have higher numbers of lice. When an animal is infested, there’s often a visible reddish discolouration to their skin where they congregate.
“A whale that's not doing as well might not be swimming as much, so there’d be less turbulence,” Pirotta, a member of Macquarie University Marine Predator Research Group, said. “So that’s one of the reasons we might be seeing large numbers visible around the body of a generally unwell whale.”.
