Vets Learning From Orca Corpse

Monday, February 6, 2006
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - Zoologists in Santa Barbara are calling last week's arrival of a beached orca carcass on a Ventura shore "Christmas for vets."

Paul Collins of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History says the eight-foot, 335-pound animal gave scientists a rare opportunity to examine an orca.

Veterinarians last week scanned, dissected and sampled the orca corpse in the hope of learning more about why the animal died, and about the species in general.

The museum plans to use CAT-scan images to create a rotatable three-D version of the orca, and to include it in an exhibit at its Ty Warner Sea Center on Stearns Wharf.

The museum will keep the orca's skeleton.

Source: KGET TV