Fish and Whales Reap the Benefits of Human Medical Care for Eyes

Just like humans, whales and fish can have eye problems related to stress, trauma and infection.

Whales, small man-eating piranhas, tropical angelfish and “look-downs”--flat fish about the size of a small plate--can develop “cloudy eye” or exopthalmus, more commonly known as “pop eye.”

Water animals also can suffer from corneal ulcers, mostly from trauma, and get flukes, a saltwater worm that hooks into the eye and causes abrasion and possible infection.

When fish get sick with pop eye, both eyes protrude three-quarters of the way out of their sockets and, until recently, when that occurred the fish were doomed, according to Dr. Joanne Waeltermann, a pediatric ophthalmologist.

Time-Release Injections

Waeltermann and Dr. Michael Stoskopf, chief of medicine at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, have found that by using time-release injections of steroids and antibiotics, they can prevent 75% of pop eye victims from dying.

With a tiny needle, the drops are injected every three days into the surrounding tissue of the eye, after the fish is anesthetized.

“We’ve been pretty successful in keeping the fish around, but we can’t get their eyes to go all the way back,” says Waeltermann.

And now, with the use of a special kind of glue, the physicians are also saving the eyes and lives of fish whose corneal ulcers are so deep they go all the way through the cornea.

About a year ago, the ophthalmologist, who treats the eyes of whales and fish every Wednesday at the aquarium, discovered that Anore--one of three beluga or “white whales”--was swimming with her eyes shut.

Stress Causes Problems

Whenever any of the whales or fish are stressed, their eyes either bulge or their corneas--the clear part of the eye over the pupil and iris--become clouded.

“Anore was having a lot of trouble with her eyes because she was under stress--Illamar, the other 6-year-old beluga whale, was picking on her,” Waeltermann says. “Animals will establish a pecking order. Illamar was more dominant and that was causing Anore’s stress.”

When the two physicians finally got Anore up to a raft and with patience got her to open her eyes, they saw that her corneas were very cloudy and that she had a herpes infection deep in the cornea. They then applied a special eye drop.

“Now, the corneas are still slightly scarred, but she’s much more comfortable and no longer swims around with her eyes shut,” Waeltermann said.

Herpes Spreads

Herpes is a virus caused by stress, too, and since Anore had a herpes infection on her skin to begin with, it was easy for it to spread to her eyes, according to the ophthalmologist.

On a recent day, a piranha--a small South American fish that often attacks men and large animals--was afflicted with an exophthalmic eye, which caused the eyes to bulge.

No longer attractive, the piranha had been removed from the exhibit area and had undergone treatment that is lifesaving in 75% of the cases.

“By giving the fish an injection of an antibiotic and a steroid, we can get the eye to go back considerably,” she says. “A lot of pop eye is caused by a bacterial infection and hormonal imbalance. The fish with this ailment and suffering from stress could be the low fish on the totem pole, too.”

Waeltermann and Stoskopf plan to do a small scientific exhibit on their success in treating pop eye for the next meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Corneal Ulcers

In addition to cloudy eye and pop eye, water animals also can develop corneal ulcers, most of the time from trauma, or they can get flukes, according to Waeltermann. A corneal ulcer is more than an abrasion, she explains. It goes deeper into the stroma, the substance of the cornea.

“Sometimes what will happen is that because the fish live in this aquatic environment, little flukes--which are like little worms--will hook onto the eyes of the fish and that can create an abrasion and an infection,” the ophthalmologist says.

“So, first we try to get rid of the flukes by giving fresh-water dips. The flukes are in the fish pool with the saltwater. What we do is take the fish with flukes on it and dump it in fresh water. It doesn’t hurt the fish, but the flukes can’t hold on and they drop off. Then, we give the fish antibiotic injections.”

The physicians are also saving the lives of fish that have corneal ulcers deep enough that they go all the way through the cornea. Waeltermann and Stoskopf use an extremely strong glue--that is, a veterinary medical grade of Superglue--to create a patch.

“In a human, if we had a corneal abrasion, we would just patch the eye shut. But, you can’t put a patch on a fish,” Waeltermann says.

Sticks for Few Days

“So, we dry the cornea, put the glue on, let it dry--it takes about five seconds--and then let the fish go back in the water. This glue patch on the cornea sticks for a few days. And if we can protect the cornea by keeping the glue on, it will heal.”

For two years--on her day off from taking care of children with problem eyes--Waeltermann has been working with Stoskopf at the aquarium.

“Before I came along, he did the best he could,” says Waeltermann. “Actually, he learns from me and I learn a lot from him. I basically give him what my experience is with humans and then we apply it to the fish.”