Sunday 22 July 2012

Young Finback Whale beaches at Alcaidesa

(Photo: europasur.es)
LA LÍNEA/Alcaidesa (Agencies) A finback whale (Balaenoptera physalus) appeared dead on the beach last Wednesday at Alcaidesa, according to reports received by the Town Hall at around 8pm. Volunteers from the Centre for Recovery of Threatened Species (CEGMA In its Spanish acronym) at Málaga, arrived some time later, and also members of Circe, the whale watching people from Tarifa. These experts reported that it was about 4 m in length, indicating it was a youngster, but that it had been dead for some time before being flung onto the sand, as it was in an 'advanced state of decomposition'. Also called a rorqual, this is one of the smallest of the large whales (the family of the Balaenopteridae includes the Blue Whale, the largest of all mammals) but it is the fastest and the most common, of ten reaching between 7 and 10 m in length and between 5 to 10 tons in weight. The remains were removed for incineration on Thursday morning and there was little trace of it overt the weekend.

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