Byard Roger W, Winskog Calle, Machado Aaron, Boardman Wayne
School of Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Frome Road, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2012 Apr;19(3):158-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2011.12.017. Epub 2012 Jan 24.
Assessment of injuries in marine mammals may be required to help authorities determine whether human activity was involved. Three cases of marine animal deaths involving propeller blade strikes are reported to demonstrate characteristic features of such cases and diagnostic difficulties that may occur. Case 1: A juvenile New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) suffered two parallel linear incised wounds of the flank and died following small intestinal herniation. Case 2: An Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin neonate (Tursiops aduncus) died from a deeply incised wound of the left side of the head with shattering of the skull and laceration of the underlying brain.Case 3: An adult female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (T. aduncus) died from two parallel chop wounds to the torso with opening of the thoracic and abdominal cavities with fractures of the ribs and vertebrae. Given that some animals may recover, and that the carcasses of those that are killed may simply not be found or reported, it is impossible to provide an estimate of the incidence of this type of injury amongst wild sea mammals. In cases that do come to forensic attention accurate evaluation of the type of injury may potentially have great medicolegal significance. Post-mortem putrefaction and post-mortem feeding by other sea animals may complicate assessments.
可能需要对海洋哺乳动物的损伤进行评估，以帮助当局确定是否涉及人类活动。报告了三起涉及螺旋桨叶片撞击的海洋动物死亡案例，以展示此类案例的特征以及可能出现的诊断困难。案例1：一只幼年新西兰海狗（Arctocephalus forsteri）侧腹有两条平行的线性切割伤口，因小肠疝出而死亡。案例2：一只印度-太平洋宽吻海豚幼崽（Tursiops aduncus）因头部左侧一处深切伤口导致颅骨破碎和下方脑组织撕裂而死亡。案例3：一只成年雌性印度-太平洋宽吻海豚（T. aduncus）因躯干有两条平行的砍伤，胸腔和腹腔开放，肋骨和椎骨骨折而死亡。鉴于一些动物可能会康复，而且那些被杀死的动物尸体可能根本找不到或未被报告，因此无法估计这种类型的损伤在野生海洋哺乳动物中的发生率。在确实引起法医关注 的案例中，准确评估损伤类型可能具有重大法医学意义。死后尸体腐烂和其他海洋动物的死后啃食可能会使评估复杂化。
