Near Real-Time Marine Mammal Stranding Report

Please fax report to Liz Tuohy-Sheen at (305) 361-4221 within 24-hours of stranding or
email the information to Elizabeth.Tuohy-Sheen@noaa.gov
****This form does not replace the Level A Marine Mammal Stranding Report Form,
which should be submitted no later than 30 days following stranding event.****

Date of Stranding: May 30, 2015

Field Number: GA2015034
Examiner: C. George (GDNR); various staff and students from Savannah State University,
Tybee Island Marine Science Center, Burton 4H Center at Tybee Island and Tybee Public Works
County, State: Chatham, Georgia
Location: Tybee Island, ocean beach, near 9th St beach access
Latitude: 32.00117N
Longitude: 80.84139W
Species: Kogia breviceps
Condition: Alive when first observed; early code 3 at necropsy
Length: 311 cm
Sex: Male
Human Interaction: No
Comments: Beachgoers observed a live whale stranded at ~22:30 on 30MAY15 and contacted
Tybee Police; Tybee Police contacted GDNR and Tybee Public Works; TPW staff arrived at
23:15 and found a fresh dead Kogia; cell phone photos collected, carcass was towed above the
high tide and left on the beach overnight; TPW staff transported the carcass to the TPW Polk St
compound on the morning of 31MAY15; GDNR, SSU, TIMSC and Burton 4H staff arrived at
10:00 for external exam and necropsy; carcass presented in emaciated condition and no signs of
HI externally; other than poor body condition, no cause of death evident grossly; nonspecific
findings included: abraded areas on head, trunk and extremities (probably from stranding alive on
beach); many cephalopod sucker marks on throat and ventrum; moderate number of resolved
cookie-cutter shark bites; teeth sharp, except a couple broken; tooth count: UL=0, LL=12, UR=0,
LR=14; blubber thin (1.9-2.5cm); abundant small cestode cysts in blubber and a few larger cysts
in abdomen; no Crassicauda nemoatodes in gillslit gland; yellow fluid in left glenohumeral joint;
left prescapular LN congested; abundant white froth in trachea and airways; lungs wet, heavy and
diffusely congested; 1 cm round hard cyst (parasite?) adhered to wall of vena cava near
confluence with right atrium (not apparently obstructing flow); liver diffusely congested and
friable; bright yellow bile in bile duct; forestomach contacted few squid beaks, squid eyes and
nematodes; main stomach contained moderate number of squid pens, beaks and eyes, moderate
number of small nematodes and a couple unidentified invertebrates (tunicates?); pyloric stomach
contained a moderate number of small nematodes, squid beaks and squid eyes; focal ulcerated
area in pyloric mucusa; scant clear fluid in duodenum; thick yellow fluid in proximal intestine;
brown fluid in mid-intestine becoming darker brown and pasty in distal intestine; colon full of
dark brown watery fluid; urinary bladder full of clear yellow urine; testes mature (left: 44 cm L x
9 cm W, right: 39 cm L x 8.5 cm W); sperm not visible on cut surfaces; seminal vesicles full of
fluid; no visual lesions in heart, lungs, liver, intestines, spleen, pancreas, adrenals, kidneys,

urinary bladder, gonads and musculoskeletal system; brain not examined except for spinal cord;
skin, blubber, histopath and frozen tissue samples collected.