A veterinarian with the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday cut into a juvenile killer whale that washed up last weekend on a Lutak Inlet beach, seeking clues about why it died.
NOAA veterinarian Dr. Rachel Dziuba took samples from the orca’s brain, tongue, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and lymph nodes, as well as from blubber and fatty acoustic panels in its jaw.
The whale was a male, more than eight feet long,…
