A team of veterinary doctors at the Moskvarium Center for Oceanography and Marine Biology in Moscow described the details of working with Naya, Russia’s first orca pregnant in an artificial environment. One scientific institution told socialbites.ca about this.
Marine mammal observation data is important for science, as scientists do not know much about the reproductive characteristics of killer whales. Veterinarians already face difficulties due to the size of the animal and the impossibility of performing many surgical operations.
“Cecean mammals are very difficult patients for a veterinarian. We are limited in terms of ultrasound, and the surgical process is complicated by the inability to rest the muscles of a constantly moving killer whale. “Even if there is a complication during birth, there is no device in the world that can provide ventilation to an animal of this size,” said Irina Suvorova, chief veterinarian of Moskvarium. “We will not be able to perform the operation under anesthesia because it is not available,” he said.
The main indicator of the onset of labor in cetaceans is body temperature, which drops by one degree the day before the baby is born. Killer whales give birth to calves aged 15.5 to 18 months, so experts are targeting the second half of December 2023.
Previously veterinarians said About the first case of an orca getting pregnant in an artificial environment in Russia.