HONOLULU — Wildlife officials on Tuesday euthanized two emaciated, sick dolphins that stranded on a Maui beach less than a month after another mass stranding in the same area.
The two animals were breathing heavily and had abnormal heart rates, said David Schofield, the regional stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They also had critically low levels of an enzyme called alkaline phosphatase, which in dolphins and whales indicates inflammation, illness or poor nutrition, Schofield said.
Veterinarians who examined the animals determined the most humane thing to do would be to euthanize them, he said.
The two were among six pygmy killer whales, a species of deep-ocean dwelling dolphin, that agency officials had been monitoring for about 10 days in shallow waters off Maui. The remaining four were still in the area off Sugar Beach in the coastal town of Kihei.
Pygmy killer whales are often confused with false killer whales and melon-headed whales. The species is found primarily in deep waters throughout tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
Eleven pygmy killer whales stranded on the same beach on Aug. 29. One calf died and officials euthanized four adults after that stranding. Dorsal fin marks showed different individuals were involved in the two stranding events.
Schofield said two separate strandings of the same species in the span of several weeks raises concerns there might be a disease afflicting the Hawaii pygmy killer whale population. Scientists won’t know whether this is the case until necropsies are conducted.
It’s not clear whether there is any relation between the strandings and a warming planet.
Marine mammals sit at the top of the food chain and are considered indicators of ocean health, Schofield said. And though temperatures in waters around Hawaii this summer hit highs second only to 2015, Schofield said it would be “very difficult to speculate” and connect the strandings to global climate change.
The bodies of the dolphins were being flown to Oahu for post-mortem examination by the University of Hawaii.
NOAA officials initially reported the animals from the August stranding were melon-headed whales, but they turned out to be pygmy killer whales.
