Pascuala Report Updated

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Rescued Baby Orca Whale Gaining Weight*
This past Sunday we could report a positive balance as Pascuala, the recently rescued baby orca whale has stabilized at 175 kg (about 385 lbs). She is being fed a milk-like formula high on fat at a rate of 12 liters (about 4 gallons) a day.

She continues to be very dedicatedly cared for with someone at her side at all times, I saw her being carefully fed with a funnel and a hose, and then Fernando Miranda, the Dolphin Center's director and founder of Dolphin Assistance Foundation, put on his wet suit and diving gear and went into the water with her. I could tell she was happy to see and feel him join her in the pool as she turned more active. He had her exercise and swim all about, practice diving to the bottom and come back up. "She has no mom, someone has to teach her" he said.

I told him he is earning his share in Mother's Day upcoming celebration, as Pascuala turned out to be younger than the two weeks estimated when she was stranded; further studies show she was just a few days old back then, so she must be only a month old by now. So far it appears as she will not be going to San Diego as the Mexican government will not allow her shipment outside the country. It is now a question of where in Mexico she will stay so the proper facilities can be built, taking into consideration she can grow to about 5 to 7 meters (15 to 21 ft).

It also appears that among marine mammals' specialists the cases of orcas abandoning their firstborn and this baby to be stranded are not that extraordinary. Paradoxically orcas, the largest whales of the dolphin family and top predators of the sea; so dependent on their mother's milk in this early period of their life, are the whales with the widest diversity of food sources, their diet covering hundreds of species from fish to marine mammals as other whales, sea lions and seals.