Earlier this year a young adult male harbour porpoise was found stranded on a rock at Saanich Inlet off Vancouver Island. The animal seemed unable to swim.
The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre was called and later determined the porpoise had a lung infection.
After several months of treatment and rehabilitation, “Levi” as staff named him, was released back into the ocean near where he was originally found.
Veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena says Levi appears to have made a full recovery, which is rare because stranded cetaceans generally don’t have a high chance of survival.
Because they were never designed to be out of the water, once stranded, most cetaceans start to have trouble breathing as they suffocate under their own weight. Exposed to air and sunlight, they also develop skin problems in addition to heart and kidney damage, he said.
Levi is the first cetacean that has ever been rehabilitated and released by the rescue centre, and a satellite-linked transmitter has been attached to its dorsal fin so aquarium staff can track its movements.
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