Skin lesions in Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off the coast of Valdés Península, Argentina

BERTELLOTTI, M.; VARISCO, A.; AGUADO. G.; FRANCISCO, E.

Santiago de Chile,

Workshop; Workshop of skin diseases in cetaceans. Scientific Committee of International Whaling Commission.; 2008

Adults and calves of Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) show different type of lesions on their skin, including large injuries produced by kelp gull’s attacks (Larus dominicanus), and other non specific wounds of unknown origin. Kelp gulls usually aggravate the lesions by taking pieces of skin and bubbler, increasing the size of the injuries. Lesions of unknown origin are observed in adults and juveniles, while in calves the skin appears abnormally scattered and wrinkly but without the patterns observed in adults. We classified non specific lesions by gross examination, that can appear in the same whale at the same time. Lesions were categorized as: stippled pattern; pox-like pattern; ulcerative pattern; regular depression pattern, and rounded elevation pattern. Some of the gulls peck wounds have the aspect of a volcanic-lesion, with epithelial hyperplasia and large inflammation, possibly caused by the presence of opportunistic bacterial infection. We are studying the origin of these lesions by taking samples of dead and live animals, in order to analyze the epidemiology of this type of disease.