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What Is the Virtual 4D Whale Necropsy?
This is a free, virtual, smell-free, step-by-step research lab. A necropsy is "an examination of a body after death to determine the cause of death or the character and extent of changes produced by disease" (Merriam Webster); this process is called an "autopsy" when performed on people. Most whale biologists spend their careers in boats getting a glimpse at whales only when they come up to the surface to breathe or occasionally to feed. Being able to walk right up to a whale, and even look inside its body, offers scientists a rare and meaningful opportunity to learn from whales at close range.
Why Is It a 4D Necropsy?
A beached whale that was recently necropsied was 3D scanned at five different points in time (time is the 4th dimension). This time series allows you to see how the whale carcass was exposed by the necropsy and then decomposed over time.
Why Do We Do a Necropsy?
The primary reason scientists perform a necropsy is to determine the cause of death. Death can be from natural causes, human interactions, or a combination of both. Examining stranded carcasses is often the most important way to determine threats to marine mammals and can indicate changes in environmental conditions. Observations made during necropsies can also serve as evidence in court cases if the death resulted from broken federal regulations. We can also obtain information about age, sex, reproductive status/history, diet, genetics, pathology, levels of Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) toxins, and contaminant levels from the animal. Finally, samples collected during necropsies may be stored in long-term archives for future studies to increase scientific knowledge about cryptic species or analyzed immediately to assist ongoing research and monitoring efforts.
During this virtual necropsy, we will walk you through the steps a researcher goes through to report and document a dead, stranded humpback whale. Then, we will guide you through a virtual necropsy of the whale to look for evidence of the cause of death.
What if I Find a Dead Whale in Real Life?
Whales are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and restrictions are enforced by NOAA fisheries, so a person needs special permission to examine or disturb a marine mammal carcass. In real life, if you find a dead whale in Alaska, report it to NOAA Alaska Marine Mammal Standing Network by calling the 24-hour stranding hotline at (877)-925-7773.
Learn more or find a stranding network near you.
About This Whale
This whale was discovered by the Coast Guard near Sitka on Sunday, March 14th at Shoal’s Point on Kruzof Island. This necropsy occurred on Thursday, March 18th, 2021 under the authority of Stranding Agreement SA-AKR-2019-10.
Suggested questions to consider as you go through the necropsy:
Using the information you collected, can you tell a plausible story about what happened to this whale? Point to information that you gathered from the carcass to give evidence for your story.
Are you confident in that explanation, or can you think of another story that is also supported by the evidence?
What causes of death do you think are most UNLIKELY based on your examination?
What additional evidence would you want to be more confident in how the whale died?
Was there anything in this whale's death that indicates an ongoing threat to other whales, other marine animals, or human health?
Do you think you would enjoy assisting an actual whale necropsy? Why or why not?
Was there anything that surprised you that you learned about whale anatomy or decomposition during the virtual necropsy?
Tutorial: How to Navigate the Virtual Whale Necropsy
Acknoweldgements
Acknoweldgements
The necropsy team was led by Dr. Lauren Wild, a research biologist and professor of Fisheries Technology at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS-Sitka), under the authorization of NOAA Fisheries. She was assisted by Ellen Chenoweth (UAS-Sitka), Leigh Engel (Sitka Tribe of Alaska), Molly Grear (Pacific Northwest National Laboratories), Ted Hasty (NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement), Joshua Houston (Jfactory), Stacy Golden (Sitka School District), Paul Norwood, Brooke Schafer, and Pat Swedeen (City of Sitka) under the authority of. Learn more about stranded animal response and what to do if you find a dead or stranded marine mammal. The US Coast Guard originally sighted and reported the whale and provided transportation to and from the site. Dennis Rogers (M/V Northern Song) and Mike Litman (M/V The Royal Baby) also provided transportation out to the whale.
Drew Stafford at the USCG District 17 office was integral in scheduling the effort through the Sitka Air Station. Erik Oredson and Treston Taylor were pilots on the flight crewed by Amanda Perham, David Braaten and William Flowers on the first flight to the whale. The second flight was piloted by Mike Seavey and Michael Carrol and crewed by Desean Brown and Raul Perezrosario.
This virtual workshop was assembled and annotated by Dr. Ellen Chenoweth and Dr. Kathy Burek Huntington and funded by UAF BLaST. This scan and technical expertise were provided by Jfactory. Jan Straley (UAS-Sitka), Taylor Stumpf (Metlakatla Indian Association), Lauren Wild, Matt Goff (Sitka Nature), Sadie Wright (NOAA Fisheries), Maggie Castellini (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Steve Lewis, Emma Park (UAS-Sitka), Mandy Keogh (NOAA Fisheries), Brooke Schafer, Paul Norwood, Paul Kraft (UAS-Sitka) and Ashely Szoke (UAS-Sitka) provided feedback.
This work was supported by the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers UL1GM118991, TL4GM118992, or RL5GM118990. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. UA is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual: www.alaska.edu/titleIXcompliance/nondiscrimination.
I hope you enjoy this free resource! If you can, please donate to contribute to annual website hosting fees ($180). Any extra funds are gratefully used for whale research and education in Alaska.
PART 2: Necropsy (looking inside)
PART 2: Necropsy (looking inside)
PART 3: Decomposition
PART 3: Decomposition
Post-necropsy (March 18, 2021)
Decomposition 1 (April 3, 2021)
Decomposition 2 (April 18, 2021)
Decomposition 3 (June 13, 2021)
Whale Skeleton (different whale)
A Word About Indigenous Languages
A Word About Indigenous Languages
This whale was discovered on Tlingit Aaní near Kanasx’éey Séet T’aak Héen and the volcano, L’ux (Mt. Edgecumbe).
The indigenous people of Southeast Alaska have been stewards of the land and marine resources since time immemorial. As a reminder and acknowledgment of this stewardship, I consulted Sealaska Heritage Institute dictionaries for the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages of Southeast Alaska and have provided indigenous terms for whale structures, in some cases.
This does not attempt to be a complete accounting. I included words or phrases where the application seemed most clear, but I sincerely regret any misapplications.
Please provide feedback with any corrections, comments or suggested additions.
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