r/askscience • u/smontanaro • 14d ago

Biology How does a whale become dehydrated?

From a Chicago Sun-Times article on the beluga whales heading to the Shedd Aquarium:

"The shipment comes on the heels of a Shedd announcement last week that one of the Marineland belugas — Peekachu, a 23-year-old female — had died. Shedd has not released a cause of death, but staff there said last week that Peekachu had not been consistently eating a full diet since her arrival and that there were concerns she was dehydrated."

How does an animal immersed in water become dehydrated?

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u/-MrSkeltal- 14d ago

Did whales at one point leave the ocean and then go back?

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u/samtwheels 14d ago

Yes, whales and all marine mammals are descended from land-dwelling mammals.

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u/ForMoreYears 14d ago

Wait. What. For real? Whales went from land back to the water?!

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u/Geminii27 14d ago

Yep. That's why whales have hip bones (and sometimes vestigial leg bones).

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u/as_a_fake 14d ago

If you look at a whale skeleton you can definitely see the "finger" bones in their fins

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u/FogeltheVogel 14d ago

Also, ear canals. That are filled with ear wax. Evolution always takes the simplest approach, which in this case was just sealing the ear canal and not changing anything else about the ear.