Massive blue whale washes ashore in southern Chile

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Aug 2023 22:28

Sernapesca's regional director Cristian Hudson told local media that "given its condition, the whale must have died at sea some time ago and drifted in that state."

A blue whale exhales through its blowhole in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, California. (AFP)

A gigantic blue whale, considered the biggest mammal on the planet, washed up on a beach in southern Chile on Sunday, according to local authorities.

Residents of Ancud, on Chiloe island, discovered the massive marine animal Saturday on a Pacific Ocean beach 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Santiago.

Sernapesca agents ordered to investigate confirmed the carcass was that of "a large cetacean of the family of Balaenopteridae," according to a post on the X platform previously known as Twitter. The agency added, "We helped identify the specimen and, based on preliminary evidence, it is a blue whale."

Sernapesca's regional director Cristian Hudson told local media that "given its condition, the whale must have died at sea some time ago and drifted in that state."

Environmental organizations observed that the area's waterways are widely used by the fishing industry and marine traffic, and they demanded an inquiry to discover whether the whale was the victim of a collision.

According to the non-governmental Cetacean Conservation Center (CCC) of Chile, the family of Balaenopteridae, or rorquals, encompasses a wide range of species, from the nine-meter (30-foot) minke whale to the blue whale, which may grow to be up to 30 meters long.

In late July, nearly 100 pilot whales tragically died after beaching themselves in Western Australia, as reported by wildlife officials.

The pod of 97 long-finned pilot whales had gathered in shallow waters off Cheynes Beach, located about 400 kilometers southeast of Perth, on Tuesday, with many of them becoming stranded on the sand. By the following morning, 51 of the whales had already perished.

On July 17, a pod of about 50 pilot whales died after collapsing on a Scottish shore.

Mass strandings of whales remain a natural phenomenon that scientists have yet to comprehend fully, but pilot whales, being highly social creatures, may follow their pod-mates into dangerous situations.