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det i knoglerne havde dog ikke så stor betydning i forhold
til monteringen af skelettet. Der kan være problemer med
limens evne til at binde til knoglevævet, men det var ikke
tilfældet her.
Efter montering af de sidste knogler var hvidnæseske-
lettet klar til at blive udstillet på Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet,
hvor det fra februar 2011 indgår i særudstillingen ”Døde
Hvaler”.
Noter
1. Perrin, W. F., Würsig, B. & Thewissen, J. G. M. (Ed)
(2002) Encyclopedia of marine mammals, p. 1332-1334.
2. Mead, J.G. (2002) Gastrointestinal tract. I Perrin, W.F.,
Würsig, B. & Thewissen, J.G.M. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Ma-
rine Mammals. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
3. Wilson, B., Hammond, P.S. & Thompson, P.M. (1999)
Estimating size and assessing trends in a coastal bottlenose
dolphin population. Ecological Applications, 9, 288-300.
4. Carter D.J. &Walker A.K. (1999) Care and Conservation
of Natural History Collections. Butterworth-Heinemann,
Oxford, UK.
Summary
A white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) died
and stranded at Sødringholm in Randers Fjord on 15 No-
vember 2009. This particular locality in the Kattegat was
atypical because most stranded white-beaked dolphins are
found along the west coast of Jutland.
The carcass was very fresh and was quickly transport-
ed to the Fisheries and Maritime Museum in Esbjerg to be
stored at -20°C to prevent the carcass from decomposing
further, and to ensure more accurate post-mortem results.
To obtain the best results when doing post-mortem ex-
aminations of marine mammals, the Fisheries and Maritime
Museum collaborates with DTU Veterinary – the National
Veterinary Institute in Aarhus. The white-beaked dolphin
was examined in Aarhus in February 2010. Before the dol-
phin could be examined it had to be thawed – a process
which can take some time because of the insulating blub-
ber. While the dolphin was thawing it was placed on display
at the museum – this was an excellent opportunity to give
guests some hands-on experience while learning about the
museum’s work with marine mammals.
The veterinary examinations of marine mammals are
very thorough, and their primary goal is to assess the ani-
mals’ health. The anatomical pathology is examined first –
the tissues and organs are studied to help determine particu-
lar diseases. This examination showed several interesting
things. The white-beaked dolphin from Randers Fjord had
a big white scar on its head – what caused this scar is un-
certain, but dolphins with scars or wounds on their body are
often seen. The examination also showed that the dolphin,
a female, had been pregnant. Examination of the stomach
showed a heavy infection with parasites which had led to in-
flammation and bleeding in the stomach. Finally, the veteri-
narians found a cyst in the right side of the thoracic cavity,
but further investigation of the cyst has still not established
its cause.
The histopathological and bacteriological examinations
gave no further clues regarding what caused the dolphin’s
death. The post-mortem result seemed to suggest that the
dolphin had been weakened by the heavy parasite infection
in its stomach, and that this may have led to its death.
After the post-mortem examination at the National
Veterinary Institute in Aarhus, the carcass was brought
back to the Fisheries and Maritime Museum for maceration.
The maceration technique used was hot-water maceration –
soaking the fleshed-out bones in hot water (40°C). The hot
water speeds up the decomposition process. After the mac-
eration process, the bones were bleached in a 4% solution
of hydrogen peroxide for 24 hours. The bleaching process
serves more than one purpose – it makes the bones whiter,
but it also has a hygienic effect because the hydrogen per-
oxide kills the bacteria on the surface of the bones. After
bleaching, the bones are left to dry at room temperature for
approximately one week.
The bones from this white-beaked dolphin were mount-
ed, and in 2011 it can be seen at the museum in the tempo-
rary exhibition “Dead whales”.