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Cornell University

Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center
for Wildlife Health

Blog

Blogs from the Field

A healthy future for wildlife, people, and planet.

Victoria is wearing a white lab coat and blue gloves as she measures the girth of a seal using a yellow measuring tape in a clinical lab setting. The seal is lying on a metal examination table. The room is well-lit with industrial-style overhead lights and contains medical equipment.
Wildlife Pathology The Student Experience
Seals
Wildlife Pathology
marine mammal
Strandings Investigation Program
Utrecht University
Externship
Veterinary Externship
Student
Student Experience
Veterinary Student
Free-ranging Wildlife Conservation
Marine Mammal Stranding
Necropsy
Postmortem Examinations
Histopathology
Dutch Wildlife Health Center
Hands-on Experience
Anatomic Pathology
Pathology
Infectious Disease
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health
Student Support Fund
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health’s Student Support Fund
SOS Dolfijn
Stranding

Using Veterinary Pathology to Investigate Marine Mammal Strandings in the North Sea

September 16, 2025 by Victoria Priester
Every seal or porpoise that strands tells a story of the life it lived and how it died, though some findings from necropsies make more complete stories than others....
A whale calf’s entangled flipper and how tightly wrapped the line is.
Aquatic Animal Health Planetary Health The Student Experience
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Marine Mammal Stranding
Marine Mammals
Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Marine Wildlife
Marine Mammal Rescue & Research
Center for Coastal Studies
Cornell Wildlife Health Center Student Support Fund
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Student Learning
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Veterinary Students
Student Support
Whale
Dolphins
Cetaceans
Pinnipeds
Human Conflict
Wildlife Rescue
Wildlife Release
Seals
Necropsy

What the Ocean Brings Us

November 08, 2023
For my last summer before clinical rotations, I wanted to gain experience with marine animals. I was accepted as an intern with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Marine Mammal Rescue & Research (MMRR) program in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a unique geographical area where tides and coastlines can suddenly trap a dolphin or whale in inches of water....