Pharyngula

am I the only one for whom this breaks the page layout?

Posted by: craig | June 14, 2008 3:53 PM

You crashed your tables!

Posted by: Thorn | June 14, 2008 3:55 PM

How did the umbilical cord get severed?

Posted by: Richard Harris | June 14, 2008 4:06 PM

Okay, I'll try to answer my own question. I guess evolution did it. But by what means?

Posted by: Richard Harris | June 14, 2008 4:10 PM

Only seconds old, and it swims to the surface on its own. Cool.

Posted by: Nemo | June 14, 2008 4:16 PM

Where's the umbilical cord ? I didn't see it, although there was a lot of "blood" which comes out with the baby. Perhaps the cord is an easy-tear variety ?

Posted by: Gib | June 14, 2008 4:35 PM

Our kids were too young for Raffi. Here's the song that I'm stuck with now:
The Wiggles

Posted by: Katrina | June 14, 2008 4:47 PM

Pretty simple. If they don't deliver tail first the babies drown. Those that didn't very quickly develop the tendency to deliver tail first lost 100% of their offspring. That's some pretty durned strong natural selection force right there.

Posted by: QrazyQat | June 14, 2008 4:58 PM

Also, WHOA, she had an easy time of that.

We're one of the few (the only?) mammalian species which does have a hard time. Because of our big fat overgrown heads.

Posted by: Rob G | June 14, 2008 5:23 PM

Where's the umbilical cord ? I didn't see it, although there was a lot of "blood" which comes out with the baby. Perhaps the cord is an easy-tear variety ?

Posted by: Gib | June 14, 2008 5:55 PM

Wow, that's cool. Its first breaths. Like most, I'm very curious what drives it to the surface like that. Obviously hard-wired that way.

Yet another example of an efficiently evolved characteristic! (E.E)

-nic

Posted by: Nic Nicholson | June 14, 2008 6:36 PM

Easy? Sure, that's one advantage of being streamlined. You can have a great big brain and a relatively easy birth.

Funny how few of these ID guys have given birth.

(Vis-a-vis the women IDoids, I suggest something along the Stockholm Syndrome/hazing continuum.)

Posted by: Ron Sullivan | June 14, 2008 7:21 PM

I don't want to be the one to break the news about this thing called a zoo to #14...

Posted by: Frederik Rosenkjær | June 14, 2008 8:02 PM

Instead of clapping, shouldn't the onlookers be throwing stones and shouting, just to give the baby a healthy fear of humanity?

Posted by: Colonel Molerat | June 14, 2008 8:27 PM

Stupid question. Why is the premium caviar called "Beluga" when it's obviously not that particular species? Sturgeaon, I presume.

Posted by: raindogzilla | June 14, 2008 8:33 PM

OK, so am I the only one who though that this video was just really damned CUTE? I mean... It's a baby BALUGA!!! A brand new one... It was swimming all clumsily and stuff... It was keeey-yute!

BAAAAby balUUUUga!!

Posted by: Jeff Arnold | June 14, 2008 8:42 PM

Cute... so the baby gets to spend its life in a tank.

I'd be interested to know if the mom was a recent capture (pregnant when captured), or if this was an actual captive breeding program. Would it affect any of the "ooh, isn't that cute!" responses here, depending on the answer to that?

Sorry.... I grew up in an area where captive Dolphins and Orcas were a big commercial tourist attraction, and where they still sell "swim with the captive dolphin adventures." Count me on the un-sympathetic side, for this kind of thing.

Posted by: foldedpath | June 14, 2008 8:55 PM

Streaming webcam of Mom and baby girl.
Available during [Vancouver] daylight hours.

Posted by: AnJaCo | June 14, 2008 9:38 PM

Quoting : http://www.harmlesslion.com/dolphins/r_fetal.htm

The umbilical cord consists of two arteries, two veins, and an "allantonic" duct, imbedded within a gelatinous connective tissue, which is tougher and much more compact than that of man.

Most of the growth of the fetus is towards the side and front of the mother, reducing the visible external bulge. Between the seventh and eleventh month of pregnancy the fetus is aligned with it's tail toward the cervix. This allows the young to be born almost invariably tail-first.

Being born tail-first has an obvious advantage; it enables the young to breathe when not yet fully expelled, without the danger of breathing in nonsterile blood, mucus, or amniotic fluid in the maternal organs. This is important, since the birth may last from half an hour to over two hours. However, one bottlenose dolphin birth was reported to occur in only five minutes.

In terrestrial mammals the stimulus that begins breathing is thought to be a shortage of oxygen in the blood of the newborn. As long as sufficient oxygen can be supplied by the placenta, there is no danger that the young will be forced to breathe. However, should the cord become taut, get a knot or impede the blood flow in any other way, the young may be forced to breathe early. In many land mammals the cord is fairly short, about 40% of the fetus' length. It is stretched taut at the moment the forehead of the young protudes from the mother. (Assuming the young is born head first. Because the cord is located closer to the rear of the animal than the snout, an animal born in breech position may have the cord taut or even snap before full born, causing the onset of breathing at a dangerous moment.)

In cetaceans, the umbilical cord ranges from 40 to 50% of the fetus' length, but is located in the approximate center of the body. Thus, there is no real preference for head or tail presentation. Because the young are born under water, the risk of breathing in fluid will always be the same.

The flippers and flukes are folded at birth in such a way that they are not likely to catch on the mother's pelvic bone during birth, and as such are not a worry.

The reason the cetacean is always born tail first is due to distribution of weight in the fetus. Since the tail is the lighter part of the fetus, it will rise to a higher point than the head and body. Due to the layout of the uterus, the highest point leads towards the cervix. In most terrestrial mammals, the opposite is true, the hindquarters tend to be heavier, and the head will point towards the opening of the cervix.

The umbilical cord has a weak point which allows it to snap of it's own accord as the newborn is expelled. The forced needed to tear the cord is extremely little, in many cases it cannot support even it's own weight.

Posted by: Taupo | June 14, 2008 10:18 PM

"Baby Beluga"

by Raffi and Debi Pike

Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
Heaven above, and the sea below,
And a little white whale on the go.

Baby beluga, baby Beluga, is the water warm?
Is your mama home with you, so happy.

Way down yonder where the dolphins play,
Where they dive and splash all day,
The waves roll in and the waves roll out,
See the water squirting out of your spout.

Baby beluga, baby Beluga, sing your little song,
Sing for all your friends, we like to hear you.

When it's dark, you're home and fed,
Curl up snug in your water bed.
Moon is shining and the stars are out,
Good night, little whale, goodnight.

Baby beluga, baby Beluga, with tomorrow's sun,
Another day's begun, you'll soon be waking.

Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
Heaven above and the sea below,
And a little white whale on the go.
You're just a little white whale on the go.

Posted by: The Happy Cetacean | June 15, 2008 12:05 AM

Awwww....a brand new beluga! Very cute.

Posted by: Jewel | June 15, 2008 8:15 AM

"We're one of the few (the only?) mammalian species which does have a hard time. Because of our big fat overgrown heads."

Coupled with a rather narrow pelvis as a result of bipedalism.

Yet another example of why humans are not intelligently designed, and why a fair few human females would like a little chat with any "intelligent designer" should they exist.

Posted by: Matt Penfold | June 15, 2008 10:21 AM

(: (: (: (: (: (: (: (:

I hope s/he finds the world to her/his satisfaction.

Posted by: Skwee | June 15, 2008 3:36 PM

@QrazyQat:

Pretty simple. If they don't deliver tail first the babies drown. Those that didn't very quickly develop the tendency to deliver tail first lost 100% of their offspring. That's some pretty durned strong natural selection force right there.

Right, but that way of putting it implies that suddenly there was a selection pressure to have babies tail-first, and suddenly those variants appeared and were selected for.

Remember what Dawkins often emphasizes: evolution is gradual, and the gradient that makes gradual evolution possible is the heterogeneity of the real world. A leaf-mimicking insect didn't suddenly emerge from an insect that looked nothing like a leaf; they began to resemble leaves more and more, because the birds are making split-second decisions to investigate or not investigate that blob of green as they fly past, and if one insect looks 0.01% more like a leaf than its neighbors, that's enough over the long haul to result in the splendid adaptations we see. Likewise, for cetaceans, there was a situation where it was advantageous to spend a little more time in the water than out, and every tail-first birth gave a tiny advantage. Gradually that ratcheted towards the scene we just saw.

Posted by: PeteC | June 15, 2008 11:28 PM

In response to some questions regarding the birth:

The birth wasn't as quick (or as easy) as it looked. Qila (the mother) was pregnant for 14 months, and was in labour for 4 hours. The umbilical cord snapped on its own. The cheering you hear once the calf in born is staff and aquarium guests. We were all in a little suspense as Qila is a first time mom, and survival rates aren't always that great for first time moms. So seeing a live and healthy calf (notice how she swan straight to the surface on her own!) was cause for cheering. Especially after sitting uncomfortably for three hours.

The tail flukes appeared at 1:11pm (MST) Tuesday June 10th, and we waited with bated breath until 4:27pm. Not all calves are strong enough to go to the surface on their own, so this calf doing it was a really good sign.

Right after birth mom (Qila) went to another part of the habitat to rest after her experience. After some time it seemed as if Qila really wasn't clear what she should be doing next. At that point we introduced Grandma, Aurora. Qila herself was conceived and born at the Vancouver Aquarium almost 13 years ago to Aurora. When we introduced Aurora to the habitat she went straight to the calf and started swimming with the calf as a mother usually does. Aurora has had calves before and is a great mom, and demonstrated it that day. It was also a great learning opportunity for Qila to understand what she should do. After sometime Qila started to understand her duties as mom however, Grandma proved to be a little...too helpful. So marine mammal staff asked Aurora to return to the side animal care area so that Qila and the calf could bond on their own. Soon after Qila and the calf were on their own in the habitat they began swimming together, and even began nursing a short time later.

It is still Qila and the calf on their own in the main habitat, and they can be viewed on the link given above. The calf is now 5 days old, still really cute, and still actually has a bit of the umbilical cord attached.
The placenta was passed later Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning and retrieved by marine mammal staff.

Having Qila and the calf at our aquarium gives us the opportunity to educate public about animals in the wild, and gives the opportunity for guests to really connect with animals they otherwise wouldn't connect with. It is also an ideal situation in which to speak with public about the different dangers that face these populations and what we can do to help. We are a conservation institution, and that is our focus. Our focus is not entertainment and shows, but rather a 'head-fake' of talking about the animals and including conservation messaging as well (and in the case of myself - evolution also. "Here, take a look at this coelacanth!")

Posted by: keely | June 16, 2008 2:31 AM

4 hour labour!!! Heh. Half her bloody luck. Try 24 hour hours, an episiotomy, a vacuum on your baby's noggin and about a million med students staring up your clacker... and none of the buggrs cheered or clapped afterwards for me.

Posted by: Bride of Shrek | June 16, 2008 4:40 AM

Golf clap for BoS. I had to look up episiotomy and... ouch. I say again... ouch.

Obviously you'll never let the little bugger forget the pain he/she put you through. 40 odd years later and my mum still brings up the 36 hour labour and the forceps etc...

Posted by: shane | June 16, 2008 6:57 AM