Beached whale in Galveston, related to the BP spill?

GALVESTON — A pygmy sperm whale found stranded on a West End beach early Wednesday will be euthanized to end its suffering, a Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network official said.

This is pretty near to me, so I am wondering if anyone had any insight into this occurrence.


source

beached whales happen from time to time, not necessarily connected to the BP oil gusher

A follow up article to the original post that states:

Published February 26, 2011

GALVESTON — Results from tests performed on a beached female pygmy sperm whale revealed the animal suffered from a bacterial infection that couldn’t be treated, an official said Friday.

Source

This is all the more disturbing in light of what can be found in this article that states, among other things, this:

Microbes can also evolve enhanced capabilities for degrading oil. One of the most rapid ways this can happen is by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT is a mechanism whereby microbes can share genes with each other—with HGT, a microbe that has the genetic instructions for producing oil-degrading enzymes can transfer copies of those genes to other microbes—even microbes of different species previously incapable of degrading oil components.

VERY SCARY.

If the normal bacteria in the gulf acquire the dangerous ability of extreme resistance to antibiotics, we could see a tremendous increase in medicine resistant infection.

I'm sure one whale is not cause for alarm, unfortunately it happens.

Now, if more start showing up I would worry.....and remember to consider tectonics. Whales (and other mammals) are known to beach in large numbers in areas prior to large quakes.

Edit to add (sorry, didn't realize in your other post that the cause of death was determined. Still, if more die than that is indeed a worrisome situation)