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Domoic Acid probable cause for Blue whales being struck by ships
As reported before, in the last two weeks three Blue whales were found dead, floating off the Californian Coast. First examination of these dead animals showed broken bones and internal organ damage, caused by being struck by ships. As this is rare, scientists are wondering why these animals could get struck in the first place. Now they might have come up with a possible answer.
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Scientists are wondering why it is possible that within 2 weeks, 3 Blue whales died of injuries sustained in collissions with ships. Surely, it can not be a coincidence! Biologists have come up with a possible answer. They speculate that domoic acid might be largely to blame. It is a toxic acid produced by algae or plankton when it blooms. Michelle Berman, a Biologist at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History said "When you have three dead animals from ship strikes you start pondering what else could be going on." "Our first question is maybe there is something that is making these animals sick that's making them predisposed to being hit by a ship and so domoic acid is our first theory." "It's free floating in the water and for the blue whales to ingest it it's mixed among their krill." Source: |
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