The story of a stranded beaked whale, which is ill and has been injured by a boat propeller, continues in Greece as volunteers are fighting to save its life.
The whale first appeared in the shallows of a beach in Vouliagmeni, near Athens, in Thursday. It was lead back into the sea, only to reappear confused and stranded on a nearby beach in Alimos hours later on Friday.
Volunteers and experts were able to assess the whale’s condition in both places. In Vouliagmeni, they determined that it was dehydrated and anemic, but uninjured. By the time it made it to Alimos, it had been injured by a boat propeller and was in poor health.
Whale stranded in Greece likely confused and injured
Alexandros Frantzis, head of marine animal research organization “Pelagos,” stated to television news network ERT on Friday that the whale is in poor condition and is unlikely to survive, as members of this species only inhabit such shallow waters when they are already very unwell.
Frantzis stated that the animal likely has not eaten for months. The diet of beaked whales largely consists of squid and deep sea fish species.
Αfter the beaked whale was discovered for a second time in the shallows, marine biologists and animal experts rushed to the scene in an attempt to help the creature.
After rehabilitating the animal, they helped guide it toward the open sea near the island of Salamina on Saturday, but after only a few hours, the whale became stranded again.
Members of the Hellenic Coast Guard, along with veterinarians, marine biologists, and the Minister of the Environment Giorgos Amyras are all on the scene.
Amyras stated: “The mammal seemed to react well to the medicine that it was given yesterday, but the fact that it has returned to the shallows today is not reassuring, because it is of a species that lives in deep water. We are conducting every possible therapy for the beaked whale.”
A volunteer with the organization All for Blue sang to the whale in order to comfort the confused and injured creature as other volunteers and veterinarians were fighting to save it. The video has spread across social media, with many users commenting that they were moved by the tender act.
Beaked whales common in deep waters
The beaked whale is closely related to toothed whales such as killer whales and narwhals.
The Hellenic Coast Guard first responded to calls concerning a seemingly confused and stranded Cuvier’s beaked whale, a species that usually lives in very deep water, near the shore in Vouliagmeni on Thursday.
This species lives in water deeper than 1,000 feet (300 meters), but is known to dive as deep as an incredible 9,816 feet (2,992 meters). Despite this, the beaked whale is among the most commonly spotted beached whales.
Thankfully, the beached whale is populous in seas and oceans across the world, and is not threatened or endangered. It is believed that over 100,000 beaked whales live in the world’s oceans, with the vast majority living in the eastern Pacific.
It seems that beaked whales react negatively to sonar and are more sensitive to the technology than other marine life. Scientists posit that this sensitivity to sonar may be at the root of many strandings and beachings of the species.
Evidence suggests that more beached beaked whales are found in areas of the sea where there is heavy sonar activity.
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