Yesterday we published a story about the carcass of a killer whale washing ashore on a beach on the north coast of Snæfellsnes peninsula. The carcass, which is easily accessible by foot from a nearby road is of a killer whale cow which seems to have died recently. Now the local news site Skessuhorn, which broke the story of the whale carcass, reports the whale most likely died of toothache.
Read more: Carcass of Killer Whale washes ashore on Snæfellsnes peninsula beach
A local man Vilmundur Þorgrímsson contacted Skessuhorn after seeing photographs of the carcass. “It is obvious from the photographs that the whale had bad teeth. When the teeth are damaged they can become infected, and the infection can then spread into the jawbone, where the nerve leading to the ears is located. This whale was probably in excruciating pain, which lead him into trouble.”
Vilmundur, who operates the Bone and stone museum in the village of Djúpivogur in East Iceland, has studied other killer whale carcasses which have washed ashore in Iceland. He speculates that the whale could have been feeding on dead herring which had sunk to the bottom of Kolgrafafjörður, where he was located. In recent years large schools of herring have swum into the fjord to die. The whales follow the herring, eating it as it sinks to the bottom. In the process, however, the whales wear down their teeth as they are digging in the rocky bottom of the fjord.
“If the teeth wear out in this manner they can become infected, and the infection can then spread to the jawbone, causing the whale to lose its hearing, and go crazy due to the excruciating pain,” he adds.
Yesterday we published a story about the carcass of a killer whale washing ashore on a beach on the north coast of Snæfellsnes peninsula. The carcass, which is easily accessible by foot from a nearby road is of a killer whale cow which seems to have died recently. Now the local news site Skessuhorn, which broke the story of the whale carcass, reports the whale most likely died of toothache.
Read more: Carcass of Killer Whale washes ashore on Snæfellsnes peninsula beach
A local man Vilmundur Þorgrímsson contacted Skessuhorn after seeing photographs of the carcass. “It is obvious from the photographs that the whale had bad teeth. When the teeth are damaged they can become infected, and the infection can then spread into the jawbone, where the nerve leading to the ears is located. This whale was probably in excruciating pain, which lead him into trouble.”
Vilmundur, who operates the Bone and stone museum in the village of Djúpivogur in East Iceland, has studied other killer whale carcasses which have washed ashore in Iceland. He speculates that the whale could have been feeding on dead herring which had sunk to the bottom of Kolgrafafjörður, where he was located. In recent years large schools of herring have swum into the fjord to die. The whales follow the herring, eating it as it sinks to the bottom. In the process, however, the whales wear down their teeth as they are digging in the rocky bottom of the fjord.
“If the teeth wear out in this manner they can become infected, and the infection can then spread to the jawbone, causing the whale to lose its hearing, and go crazy due to the excruciating pain,” he adds.
