Whale Washes Up Dead On Italy Shore Months After Nearly 100 Of Them Died In New Zealand

The carcass of a huge whale has been recovered from the waters off southern Italy, the coastguard said, calling it "probably one of the largest" ever found in the Mediterranean.

One of the largest ever whale

The dead mammal was spotted in the sea on Sunday near the popular tourist destination of Sorrento by coastguard divers who were first alerted to the presence of a smaller whale, which has since disappeared into the sea.

AFP

The coastguard said it recovered the carcass overnight and then towed the whale from Sorrento by sea to the port of Naples, where it will be analysed by marine biologists and other experts looking for a cause of death.

Italian coastguard discovered the body of a dead whale near the southern coast of Naples after they followed a whale calf in distress at sea pic.twitter.com/kcJO2LqU3X

¡ª Reuters (@Reuters) January 20, 2021

Whale-dying incidents in the past

In November of 2020, about 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins had died in a mass stranding on the remote Chatham Islands, about 800 km (497 miles) off New Zealand¡¯s east coast.

As many as 145 pilot whales have died after becoming stranded on a remote beach in New Zealand¡¯s far south. https://t.co/IT7JxVlZfQ #7News pic.twitter.com/1e8hRBc1M6

¡ª 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) November 26, 2018

Most of them were stranded during the weekend but rescue efforts have been hampered by the remote location of the island. New Zealand¡¯s Department of Conservation (DOC) said in total 97 pilot whales and three dolphins died in the stranding, adding that they were notified of the incident on Sunday.

AAP Image

In September last year, in the largest-ever case of mass stranding, around 380 whales died off the coast of Tasmania in Australia. Nearly 500 whales have been stranded on a beach and two sandbars along the western coast of the island state.

Rescuers set free around 25 whales marooned on a sandbar off Australia's island of Tasmania, but government scientists say about 90 of the 270-strong pod of pilot whales have died https://t.co/tfZJgYwpPv pic.twitter.com/pPFMfdEm4Z

¡ª Reuters (@Reuters) September 22, 2020

Initial reports had said that 270 whales, some of which had already died, were stranded at three sites. Then authorities surveying the area by helicopter on had discovered another 200 that were stranded about 6 miles to the south ¡ª but all of those animals were confirmed dead.