What employees of SOS Dolfijn and everyone involved feared happened today: porpoise Jack died. The shelter reports this on Facebook this afternoon.
“It’s just a shitty day here,” Annemarie van den Berg, director of SOS Dolfijn, tells NH. “If a porpoise or dolphin is on the beach, we know that they are balancing between life and death. More than half of the cases succeed, but sometimes not.”
Still, they didn’t necessarily see Jack’s chances as bad. “At first we were very hopeful. He arrived in terrible condition, but it was true that we dared to start treatment.”
Turn no more
After he was found on Wednesday, the animal’s condition had deteriorated to such an extent that a vet had to put him to sleep. “Despite all the efforts of the team, we were unfortunately unable to save the animal. A great disappointment for the team,” says the team that took Jack under their wing under the Facebook post.
Although the team remained hopeful on Thursday and Friday, things suddenly went less well with the porpoise since yesterday afternoon. “He was more passive, no longer eager for his fish porridge. Last night he started vomiting and that is a very bad sign. When we examined him this morning, his blood values were so bad that we could no longer turn the tide,” says Van den Berg.
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Jack was found on Wednesday on the Hors on Texel, far from the tide line. He was in bad shape: he was very dehydrated, emaciated and could not yet swim independently. His muscles were also damaged, he had been pecked by seagulls and had a large blister between his blowhole and his dorsal fin.
Research in Utrecht
Until the harbor porpoise Jack could swim by himself again, SOS Dolfijn was looking for volunteers to support him in the basin. Also NH was Friday in Anna Paulowna to help Jack regain his strength. Despite the effort, it was to no avail.
SOS Dolfijn works together with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht. Jack’s body goes there where he is dissected and examined.