Whale Autopsies Reveal Leading Cause of Death | EarthxNews | EarthX - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   A study conducted by Whale & Dolphin Conservation has revealed vessel strikes as the leading cause of death of whales in the Mid-Atlantic. EarthxNews spoke to their Executive Director to learn more.   About EarthxNews:  A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.    EarthX  Love Our Planet.  The Official Network of Earth Day.    About Us:  At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.     EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.       EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxtv/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxtv  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthxtv      How to watch:   United States:   - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV  - Plex  - Fire TV   #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #Eco-friendly #Conservation #EarthxTV #EarthX

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00:00Our next guest is pointing to a different culprit behind the whale deaths, climate change

00:07and shipping lanes, Regina Esmuda-Silvia, the executive director at Whale and Dolphin

00:12Conservation in North America.

00:14Regina, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your expertise.

00:17I wanted to ask, in your opinion, what is causing these whale deaths?

00:23Based on the information that's available, based on the ability to do the necropsies

00:27and the examinations, most of the animals that have been examined have evidence of vessel

00:32strikes.

00:33We've seen a number of species that have had a change in distribution as a result of a

00:37change in climate and changing prey bases, where they're going to go look for food, where

00:40they're finding food.

00:42There's been some fishery management changes that have led to an increase in abundance

00:46of menhaden, the small schooling fish, particularly in the mid-Atlantic and the New York fight

00:50area.

00:51And we don't know how whales find their food, but they're good at it.

00:53So there have been an increase in the number of whales going into that area looking for

00:57food.

00:59There is an increase in activity.

01:00It's not a place that we would have probably had management measures previously, because

01:07that area wasn't considered to be a high use area for a lot of different whale species

01:10in the past.

01:11And so seeing more whale watching happening in that area regularly was another indication

01:16of the fact that whales are being sighted there on a more consistent basis, and more

01:20whales in an area, particularly in a place that has a lot of boat traffic, is unfortunately

01:25going to lead to issues where you're going to have vessel strikes.

01:29Is there anything else that you can point to, other than boats, entanglement, relocation

01:34because of climate change, that you can blame for the whale deaths?

01:39I mean, I think that it's really important for people to understand that it's not really

01:45super simple to always know why a whale died.

01:49These animals are warm-blooded animals.

01:50They are encased in a thick blubber layer.

01:52They start to decompose the second they die, and they're not dying on the beach.

01:56They're dying somewhere at sea, starting to decompose before the currents bring them up

01:59onto the beach.

02:00At that point, there are some really skilled stranding responders in the mid-Atlantic area

02:05in particular that are going out and trying to examine these carcasses.

02:09And a post-mortem on a large whale is a lot of work, and it's not something simple to

02:16do once the tissue starts to decompose.

02:19When they do do these post-mortems and they're looking inside of whales, they're looking

02:23for things like, is there bruising, are there broken bones, are there evidence externally

02:27on signs of entanglements, are there ligature marks, are there cases of disease?

02:33They're looking at organs, if they're intact enough to be able to examine them, doing histology,

02:37trying to figure out if there's parasite loads.

02:41The question of ears has come up quite a bit, and the small hairs that are on the ear decompose

02:48almost instantly after those animals die, so it's not so simple to have a carcass washed

02:58up on the beach and do the extensive exams that I think some of the public think are

03:02possible.

03:03So where those exams can occur and what they can find in those cases in that particular

03:10area really have been pointing to vessel strikes.

03:12Obviously, a lot goes into this, but we do appreciate you coming on and sharing your

03:16expertise.

03:18Thank you to Sylvia.

03:20Thanks for having me.

Whale Autopsies Reveal Leading Cause of Death | EarthxNews | EarthX

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