Jason, a pygmy sperm whale, arrived just before midnight from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.  The whale had stranded at about midnight on 23 August at Vero Beach where it was rescued by the Vero Beach Police Department, Sea World of Orlando, and Harbor Branch staff.  The whale had undergone treatment and examinations at Harbor Branch prior to its transport to Mote's Dolphin and Whale Hospital.  An echocardiogram, performed by Dr. Greg Bossart of Harbor Branch, revealed that Jason was not suffering from cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that many adults of this species suffer from.  Jason was given oral fluids upon arrival at the DWH and blood was taken.  He was offered some whole squid which he ate readily. 

Aug 26 An endoscopy exam was performed on Jason to determine if there were any problems in his stomach.  No abnormalities were noted.  He was started on antibiotics.  He has several skin abscesses and wounds from the stranding and may be developing pneumonia, which is common following a stranding, especially in rough surf.  He is able to support himself in the water but has yet to figure out how to maneuver around the lagoon where he is being kept. 

Aug 27 Jason has begun to maneuver better in the lagoon.  He spends most of his time resting along the sloping bottom but can swim about when he choses to do so.  He is eating a little better today than yesterday and his blood work from this morning was almost normal.  Due to the fact that numerous parasites were seen in the stomach during the endoscopic exam, he was started on a dewormer today to eliminate the parasites. 

Aug 28 There appears to be continued improvement with more swimming, although he does still spend most of his time resting in the shallows. His urine was noted to be very dark in color so we plan to pull him from the water on Wednesday to obtain a urine sample, as well as weight. 

Aug 29 Appears to be more interested in food today and is certainly capable of swimming the 100' length of the lagoon in a very short time.

Aug 30 Jason underwent an exam this morning. His weight today is higher than when he was admitted. An ultrasound of his lungs revealed no abnormalities. We were unable to obtain a urine sample but his blood values were improved somewhat. He continues to increase his swimming and his eating each day. (See the top of this page for a link to a live video of Jason).

Aug 31 Blood values today indicate possible liver involvement (AST, ALT, Bili are all going up slowly). White count remains normal. He is more active today but not as interested in food. He is getting much stronger and more difficult to handle.

Sept 1 Jason continues to swim more each day. Unfortunately, his appetite is declining so we have made some changes in medication to hopefully counteract the loss of appetite. Late in the day we induced vomiting to empty his stomach and recovered the beaks from at least 18 species (10 families) of deep water squid that had been consumed prior to stranding nine days ago. No foreign material was found in the stomach. Below see some of the squid beaks recovered.

Sept 2 Very little change today. Appetite not good but some of the blood work has improved slightly. 

Sept 3 No appetite and stomach pH is abnormally high. We found evidence of a gastric ulcer and are beginning treatment. He is receiving only clear fluids orally. 

Sept 4 We suspect gastric stasis, probably due to the ulcer. We are continuing the clear fluids and may begin a new medication to stimulate gastric motility.

Sept 5 The medication seems to be stimulating gastric motility and fluids now seem to be moving through the stomach. We plan to give him squid gruel this afternoon. He is alert and swimming quite a bit around the lagoon. Swimming is more relaxed than on previous days. 

Sept 6 Gastric pH has begun to decline as it should and Jason has begun to show an interest in squid again. We detected yeast (Candida sp.) in the stomach contents and have begun a treatment for fungal gastritis/enteritis. Otherwise, no change. 

Sept 7 Late yesterday afternoon, Jason began a downward trend.  The stomach has quit functioning again, he has quit eating completely, and appears to be getting weaker.  He is having to be supported some of the time.  His serum electrolytes are becoming abnormal, as well. 

Sept 8 Electrolytes are better and Jason appears to be somewhat stronger today. He is swimming better and has not been supported since yesterday morning. We have begun a new drug to stimulate the stomach and hope to see results soon. Still not eating. 

Sept 9 Very little change. Electrolytes seem stable and blood values are good. Jason seems more alert and swims occasionally. 

Sept 10 More gut motility overnight and pH of stomach is slowly decreasing (a definite improvement). Will try him on some squid gruel this afternoon.

Sept 10 PM Stomach pH is finally back to normal. He is digesting squid gruel and we expect him to start eating by tomorrow. He is now much more active and seems to be feeling much better. 

Sept 11 Stomach ph is continuing at normal level. Taking gruel well. Continued evidence of gastric ulcer and a fungal gastritis. This afternoon, he ate his first squid in over a week. 

Sept 12 No change from yesterday. Interested but not eager to eat. 

Sept 13 Jason is much more alert today. He is swimming more and his appetite is somewhat improved. 

Sept 14 Continuing improvement, albeit slow. 

Sept 15 Appetite continuing to improve. Liver and kidney values that were slightly elevated are returning to normal. Stomach is functioning well without medication again. 

Sept 16 White count slightly elevated but otherwise blood work is nearly normal. Little change behaviorly today. Preparing to deal with TS/Hurricane Gordon.

Sept 17 Despite Hurricane Gordon, Jason continues to improve. He is eating at every feed and his stomach continues to function properly. We have raised the dosage of ulcer medication and it seems to be helping. White count has leveled off as well.

Sept 18 White count was up this morning, probably from lungs. We have cultured Pseudomas spp. from blowhole and are currently doing an antibiotic sensitivity. We have added a new antibiotic to take care of that. Jason is still eating. 

Sept 19 Jason had a very rough night last night. Seems to be in some abdominal distress, probably gas in GI tract. We are also concerned about pneumonia. 

Sept 20 Jason seems to be on a downward spiral. He is being supported 24 hours a day at this point. The pneumonia is responding to a new antibiotic but the GI problem seems to be getting worse. 

Sept 21 No better but no worse. White count is improving as pneumonia responds to the antibiotic. Liver and kidney values had gone up but liver values have started back down. He is somewhat dehydrated so we have increased the amount of fluids that he gets. He is still eating some squid when it is offered. He has passed some of the gas from the GI tract but is still being supported 24 hrs. 

Sept 22 Possibly slightly better today. Still weak and requires support continuously. Still eating squid. Gastric yeast is gone and gastric ulcer is responding well to treatment. Pneumonia continues to improve. Kidney values are much better and whale is less dehydrated. 

Sept 23 Jason appears somewhat stronger and his appetite has improved slightly. He is able to support himself for short periods of time. 

Sept 24 Today is a bad news/good news day for Jason. The bad news is that he quit eating last night and vomited after being tubed this morning. He actually vomited more deep sea squid beaks that he consumed prior to stranding. The good news is that he is swimming again and is supporting himself most of the time. White count continues to improve. 

Sept 25 No more vomiting and he is supporting himself more today. There is evidence that he may be developing some fungal pneumonia so we have started him on a medication for that. White count continues to decrease. 

Sept 26 Eating more enthusiastically today. Otherwise, little change. Last night we had a wound specialist, Edward Walton, MS, ARNP from Walton Wound and Skin Care and Sarasota Memorial Hospital examine some infected wounds and made some excellent suggestions for treatment.

Sept 27 Things are not going well for Jason today. His white count is going back up despite new antibiotics and there is some evidence that there may be an intestinal blockage at this time. We are continuing treatment in the hope of reversing the situation, but are not overly optimistic at this time. 

Sept 28 Very little substantive change today. White count has come back down and the intestine seems to be moving somewhat. We diagnosed subcutaneous emphysema today and removed over 5 liters of air from below the skin over his chest. It is unknown what may have caused it, possibly lung parasites. 

Sept 29 Today's news is better than the last few days. Jason had his first defacation in about 5 days, so the intestine seems to be moving again. The air that was removed from the subcutaneous (sub-blubber) area yesterday has not returned. Hopefully, that means that wherever the leak was in the lungs, it is healed. His cutaneous wounds are also healing well at this point. He is still weak and is being supported most of the time. He is definitely not "out of the woods". 

Sept 30 Jason is much weaker today. He is being supported totally and is unable to swim at all. He has lost almost all interest in food and appears to be having large amounts of intestinal gas that he is unable to expel. We are concerned that if we do not see a dramatic improvement in the next 48 hours, we may have to consider euthanasia. An ultrasound exam yesterday revealed that he does not have pneumothorax (air in the chest cavity) that can lead to the subcutaneous emphysema. 

Oct 1 Definite improvement today. Physical therapy seems to be making him want to swim and his appetite has increased somewhat. 

Oct 2 Appetite even better this morning. 

Oct 3 No change in appetite today but Jason is much stronger and is attempting to swim and dive. Unfortunately, he is rolling to the side but seems better by the hour. We are most concerned about gas in the gastrointestinal tract.

Oct 3, 2pm Jason suddenly died this afternoon with very little prior indication of trouble. We plan to do a necropsy tomorrow morning to determine cause of death.

Necropsy Results A full necropsy was performed on 04 Oct 00 at FMRI Pathobiology lab by Dolphin and Whale Hospital staff with the assistance of Dr. Butch Rommel of FMRI. The cause of death was determined to be a pulmonary embolism (blood clot) in the pulmonary artery of the right lung. This is the same finding that we had with Ginny earlier this year. It is likely due to a long period of inactivity (not swimming). In addition, we found resolving pneumonia, resolving gastric ulcer, very few parasites left, and a fungal cystitis. The intestinal problem that we were expecting was in the form of an area about 1.5 meters (5 feet) of colon was involved in an area of multiple adhesions. It appeared that there had been a mild bowel perforation that had led to a localized peritonitis that caused the loops of colon to adhere together. This "knot" of bowel would have caused a blockage to material passing through the colon. It could only have been cured surgically, which is virtually impossible in cetaceans. However, we want everyone to know that an enormous amount of knowledge was gained during the 40 days that Jason was in the DWH and we are certain that this knowledge will save the lives of many dolphins and whales in the future