Abstract
Long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) are rare visitors to the southern North Sea, but recently two individual strandings occurred on the Dutch coast. Both animals shared the same, unusual cause of death: asphyxiation from a common sole (Solea solea) stuck in their nasal cavity. This is a rare cause of death in cetaceans. Whilst asphyxiation has been reported in smaller odontocetes, there are no recent records of this occurring in Globicephala species. Here we report the stranding, necropsy and diet study results as well as discuss the unusual nature of this phenomenon. Flatfish are not a primary prey species for pilot whales and are rarely eaten by other cetaceans, such as harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), in which there are several reports of asphyxiation due to airway obstruction by soles. This risk may be due to the fish’s flexible bodies which can enter small cavities either actively in an attempt to escape or passively due to the whale ‘coughing’ or ‘sneezing’ to rid itself of the blockage of the trachea. It is also possible that the fish enter the airways whilst the whale is re-articulating the larynx after trying to ingest large, oddly shaped prey. It is unlikely that the soles entered the airways after the death of the whales and we believe therefore that they are responsible for the death of these animals.
Highlights
Long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) occur in temperate and sub-polar waters, including both oceanic and coastal waters of the North Atlantic [1,2], where surveys yielded an abundance estimate of 778,000 individuals [3]
The main necropsy finding was the presence of a flatfish, identified as a common sole (Solea solea) of 34.6 cm total length, lodged in the nasal cavity
Two rare strandings of long-finned pilot whales occurred within one month of each other on the Dutch coast and the necropsies revealed the same, remarkable cause of death: asphyxiation
Summary
In the North Atlantic, long-finned pilot whales occur mostly in deep offshore waters [2,3] and along the edges of continental shelves [5]. Fatal Asphyxiation in Pilot Whales by Flatfish driven [2,6]. Their diet is dominated by cephalopods, but can comprise a variety of fish species, including both pelagic and demersal roundfish, flatfish, and several species of invertebrates other than squid [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]
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