An฀Approach฀to฀the฀Rehabilitation฀of฀Kogia฀spp. Charles฀A.฀Manire, 1 ฀Howard฀L.฀Rhinehart, 1 ฀Nélio฀B.฀Barros, 2 ฀Lynne฀Byrd, 1 ฀฀ and฀Petra฀Cunningham-Smith 1 1 Dolphin฀and฀Whale฀Hospital฀and฀ 2 Stranding฀Investigations฀Program฀ Mote฀Marine฀Laboratory฀and฀Aquarium฀ 1600฀Ken฀Thompson฀Parkway฀ Sarasota,฀FL฀34236,฀USA Aquatic฀Mammals฀2004,฀30(2),฀257-270,฀DOI฀10.1578/AM.30.2.2004.257 Abstract Pygmy฀ (Kogia฀ breviceps)฀ and฀ dwarf฀ (K.฀ sima)฀ sperm฀whales฀are฀rarely฀seen฀in฀the฀wild,฀but฀often฀ seem฀ to฀ live-strand,฀ particularly฀ in฀ cow-calf฀ pairs.฀ The฀ rehabilitation฀ of฀ live-stranded฀ individuals฀ of฀ both฀ species฀ has฀ proven฀ to฀ be฀ exceedingly฀ diffi- cult.฀The฀few฀released฀animals฀might฀not฀have฀been฀ completely฀ healthy,฀ an฀ alternative฀ chosen฀ due฀ to฀ their฀ poor฀ survival฀ in฀ captivity.฀ The฀ rehabilitation฀ challenges฀for฀Kogia฀are฀numerous฀because฀limited฀ knowledge฀exists฀regarding฀even฀the฀basic฀biology฀ of฀ both฀ species.฀ This฀ report฀ provides฀ information฀ derived฀from฀the฀rehabilitation฀of฀13฀live-stranded฀ K.฀ breviceps฀ and฀ K.฀ sima฀ (including฀ five฀ calves)฀ over฀ the฀ last฀ decade฀ at฀ the฀ Dolphin฀ and฀ Whale฀ Hospital฀at฀Mote฀Marine฀Laboratory฀and฀Aquarium฀ in฀Sarasota,฀Florida.฀One฀K.฀breviceps฀calf฀survived฀ for฀almost฀21฀months฀in฀captivity฀and฀one฀ K.฀sima฀ survived฀for฀over฀15฀months,฀both฀apparent฀world- wide฀records.฀From฀these฀cases฀we฀learned฀that฀it฀is฀ critical฀ to฀ provide฀ supplemental฀ fluids฀ in฀ addition฀ to฀solid฀food฀to฀maintain฀continuous฀activity฀of฀the฀ intestinal฀tract,฀especially฀if฀maintained฀in฀chlorine- treated฀water,฀and฀that฀digestibility฀of฀squid฀species฀ typically฀fed฀to฀captive฀marine฀mammals฀was฀poor.฀ Both฀ species฀ appear฀ to฀ be฀ susceptible฀ to฀ adverse฀ reactions฀to฀a฀number฀of฀the฀drugs฀commonly฀used฀ during฀ rehabilitation.฀ In฀ addition,฀ an฀ artificial฀ calf฀ formula฀ was฀ developed฀ to฀ provide฀ adequate฀ nutri- tion฀ for฀ young฀ calves.฀ Finally,฀ gastric฀ and฀ intesti- nal฀stasis฀appears฀to฀lead฀to฀death฀in฀many฀of฀these฀ whales฀in฀captivity. Key฀Words:฀Rehabilitation,฀pygmy฀sperm฀whale,฀ dwarf฀ sperm฀ whale,฀ calf฀ formula,฀ orphan฀ calves,฀ survival,฀captivity,฀Kogia฀breviceps,฀Kogia฀sima Introduction The฀pygmy฀sperm฀whale,฀ Kogia฀breviceps,฀and฀the฀ dwarf฀ sperm฀ whale,฀ K.฀ sima฀ (nomenclature฀ after฀ Rice,฀1998,฀hereafter฀jointly฀referred฀to฀as฀kogias),฀ are฀ the฀ only฀ extant฀ species฀ of฀ the฀ second฀ most฀ common฀genus฀of฀stranded฀cetaceans฀in฀the฀south- eastern฀ United฀ States฀ (Odell,฀ 1991).฀ Likewise,฀ these฀ whales฀ are฀ found฀ throughout฀ the฀ tropical฀ and฀subtropical฀oceans฀of฀the฀world฀(Caldwell฀&฀ Caldwell,฀1989;฀McAlpine,฀2002).฀The฀literature฀is฀ confusing฀regarding฀these฀two฀species;฀they฀were฀ not฀ recognized฀ as฀ separate฀ species฀ until฀ recently฀ (Handley,฀1966).฀To฀date,฀the฀proper฀identification฀ of฀individuals฀is฀still฀problematic. Although฀many฀kogias฀strand,฀most฀of฀the฀ani- mals฀brought฀into฀captivity฀for฀rehabilitation฀died฀ within฀ a฀ few฀ days฀ or฀ weeks฀ (Sylvestre,฀ 1983).฀ Most฀attempts฀to฀rehabilitate฀live-stranded฀kogias฀ resulted฀in฀either฀death฀or฀premature฀release฀prior฀ to฀their฀being฀completely฀healthy.฀One฀reason฀for฀ this฀ lack฀ of฀ success฀ at฀ rehabilitation฀ comes฀ from฀ the฀fact฀that฀so฀little฀is฀known฀regarding฀the฀basic฀ biology฀ of฀ these฀ two฀ species.฀ Because฀ both฀ spe- cies฀ occur฀ over฀ deep฀ waters฀ and฀ are฀ not฀ prone฀ to฀ form฀ large฀ aggregations฀ (Katona฀ et฀ al.,฀ 1983;฀ Nagorsen,฀ 1985;฀ Ross,฀ 1979),฀ very฀ few฀ observa- tions฀ have฀ been฀ made฀ of฀ free-ranging฀ animals.฀ The฀few฀observations฀made฀of฀animals฀resting฀on฀ the฀surface฀may฀be฀biased฀because฀they฀probably฀ do฀not฀reflect฀other฀behaviors฀shown฀in฀their฀deep- water฀habitats.฀This฀has฀led฀to฀a฀number฀of฀false฀ conclusions฀regarding฀their฀behavior฀such฀as฀sug- gestions฀that฀they฀are฀“slow,฀sluggish฀swimmers”฀ (Handley,฀1966;฀Watson,฀1981).฀Those฀who฀have฀ observed฀healthy฀individuals,฀especially฀calves,฀in฀ captivity฀suggest฀that,฀although฀they฀occasionally฀ bask฀ at฀ the฀ surface,฀ their฀ underwater฀ swimming฀ is฀actually฀quite฀fast฀(Mörzer฀Bruyns,฀1971;฀pers.฀ obs.).฀Breaching฀activity฀rarely฀has฀been฀observed฀ in฀free-swimming฀kogias,฀but฀captive฀healthy฀ani- mals฀ are฀ prone฀ to฀ such฀ behaviour฀ (Caldwell฀ &฀ Caldwell,฀1989). This฀ lack฀ of฀ information฀ from฀ normal฀ healthy฀ individuals฀means฀that฀the฀majority฀of฀the฀informa- tion฀about฀the฀basic฀biology฀of฀both฀Kogia฀spp.฀has฀ ©฀2004฀EAAM