ABOUT THE BELUGA WHALE
General Information
The scientific name of the beluga whale shown in Dr. Rosie Helps the Animals is Delphinapterus leucas. Delphinapterus means dolphin without a fin. Leucas means white.
Beluga whales and skin rashes
Do beluga whales REALLY get rashes?
Fact
Yes! According to Dr. Allison Tuttle, a veterinarian at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, any animal with skin can get rashes, but we have not had a rash on the skin of a beluga in my 17 years here at Mystic Aquarium. Our team looks over the belugas from melon to flukes each and every day, and any change to the skin is reported and examined. However, belugas do go through a process of molting, where their skin grows at about 100 times its usual rate, causing the older skin to shed and appear slightly yellow or have irregular patches. The animals may elect to rub at this time to facilitate the removal of older skin.
Fun Fact
Beluga whales have no dorsal fin which enables them to swim under ice.
Causes
According to Dr. Tuttle, rashes in animals can occur any time the skin is irritated, which could be from a microbe, an allergen, or any external material. More rarely, rashes are a sign of an underlying medical condition or an allergic reaction. Rashes in belugas, however, are relatively uncommon. Patchy skin is more commonly caused by molting skin.
Symptoms
As with other animals, rashes on belugas are raised and sometimes irritated spots on the animal’s skin. Sometimes the spots are a different color than the skin, and sometimes not. Sometimes these can be itchy or uncomfortable, and sometimes the animal appears to be unaffected.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is made through observation.
Treatments
Most rashes are not severe and do not require treatment.
Fiction
In Dr. Rosie Helps the Animals, Rosie rubs an aloe leaf on the beluga whale’s rash. In reality, most rashes do not need to be treated. Belugas heal very quickly from any skin changes, including when they molt their skin, which may be an adaptation for living in their ocean environment.
Learn More
References
Dr. Allison Tuttle, DVM, Mystic Aquarium veterinarian
Miller, R. E., & Fowler, M. E. (2015). Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine (8th ed., p. 392). Elsevier Saunders.
Image Credit: iStock.com/DejaVuDesigns
