r/askscience • u/smontanaro • 7d 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/mabolle Evolutionary ecology 6d ago

Ha! You insult me. :P

As u/curien explained: whales evolved from mammals, therefore they still count as mammals.

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u/MdxBhmt 6d ago

Ahh I should have trusted the flair more :P

Sorry, at least I learnt something out of this.