Across Canada and the US in early January, North Atlantic right whale experts, marine mammal veterinarians and whale rescue specialists participate in an emergency conference call. Off the Florida coast, a fourth North Atlantic right whale calf has just been spotted during an aerial survey. Unfortunately, it is in poor shape. Giant scars run across its head to its jaw, likely the result of a collision with the propeller of a boat engine. Sarah Sharp, Animal Rescue Veterinarian at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), weighs her options. \u201cAs the calf was severely injured, we were worried it would not be able to nurse properly. We were all asking ourselves how we might prevent it from dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation is all the more concerning for researchers since North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species. For the past several years, the number of carcasses discovered has exceeded the number of births. The survival of each newborn therefore becomes of critical importance for the species.<\/p>\n
Every option to help it is then considered while weighing the pros and cons. \u201cIn this case, we were dealing with an animal injured by humans. We had a certain moral obligation to help it,\u201d argues Sarah Sharp. It is elected to inject an antibiotic in order to reduce the risk of infection and give the calf every chance to recover. \u201cThe cons are very small compared to the possible gains. There is the risk of stressing the animal when approaching it to carry out an injection or the risk of creating a small local trauma where the syringe comes into contact with the skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
What about resistance to the antibiotics? “That\u2019s definitely a concern,\u201d confirms Sarah Sharp. \u201cBut with a targeted treatment to one individual, there aren\u2019t really any risks. There are probably much more antibiotics that end up in whale habitat through our sewage systems than through droplets lost during an injection,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
These arguments are shared by Martin Haulena, chief veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium, who has previously administered doses of antibiotics to a free-swimming killer whale. \u201cWe know a lot about giving antibiotics to a variety of species. There’s not much that can go wrong with a single dose. It\u2019s not really as controversial as some people might think.\u201d
\n\u201cAs long as the treatment is targeted and does not spread into the environment, it can be very useful for treating a sick or injured animal. It\u2019s if the treatment gets into the environment or is given to a healthy animal that it can be dangerous. It could be a disaster!\u201d warns Mark Bekoff, ethicist and professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.<\/p>\n
Discussions then revolve around the choice of the antibiotic. As is the case when treating humans, there are many kinds to choose from. However, their effects on an animal of this size, in a context where probably only a single dose can be administered, are less well known.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Across Canada and the US in early January, North Atlantic right whale experts, marine mammal veterinarians and whale rescue specialists participate in an emergency conference call. Off the Florida coast, a fourth North Atlantic right whale calf has just been spotted during an aerial survey. Unfortunately, it is in poor shape. Giant scars run across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1445,481,457,480,1446,1448,1420],"class_list":["post-49688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-antibiotiques-en","tag-killer-whale","tag-north-atlantic-right-whale","tag-orca","tag-traitement-en","tag-treatment","tag-urgences-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n