#Health and stranding lab

New marine mammal surveillance revolutionizes the response to mass stranding events by allowing immediate, on-site detection.

Pacific Whale Foundation reports it has successfully retrieved a rare, nearly intact whale placenta—the most complete specimen it has ever had the opportunity to study. This is the second full placenta that has been collected in Hawai’i, the most recent one was in 2020 by Pacific Whale Foundation. 

Responders are working with staff from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary to tow the whale remains offshore for disposition, as requested by Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners.

For the first time, researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Health and Stranding Lab have successfully detected Fraser’s morbillivirus, which can cause respiratory and neurological disease, in the feces of a dolphin. The findings published in Marine Mammal Science provide a new tool to identify and monitor threats faced by Hawaiʻi’s marine mammals.