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Humpback whale washes up in the Amazon

By T.K. Randall
February 25, 2019 · Comment icon 19 comments

This is the last place you'd expect to find a humpback whale. Image Credit: Facebook / Bicho D\'agua
A dead humpback whale believed to be a 12-month-old calf has unexpectedly washed up on Marajo Island.
The whale, which was discovered after scavenging birds were spotted flocking around its remains, could very well be the first humpback ever found washed up in the Amazon region.

It was found in the undergrowth approximately 15 meters from the shoreline.

According to the non-profit Bicho D'agua Institute, the unfortunate seaborne mammal was likely already dead long before it arrived on the island.
"We're still not sure how it landed here, but we're guessing that the creature was floating close to the shore and the tide, which has been pretty considerable over the past few days, picked it up and threw it inland, into the mangrove," said marine expert Renata Emin.

"Along with this astonishing feat, we are baffled as to what a humpback whale is doing on the north coast of Brazil during February because this is a very unusual occurrence."

Researchers have since taken samples from the whale in an effort to determine how it died.

Source: RadioNZ.nz | Comments (19)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #10 Posted by Myles 5 years ago
I have to post it.    
Comment icon #11 Posted by EnderOTD 5 years ago
    Somebody could have made a killing selling rain suits and umbrellas that day.  Opportunity missed!
Comment icon #12 Posted by Razumov 5 years ago
Comment icon #13 Posted by EnderOTD 5 years ago
I am interested to know how it ended up that far inland, mini tsunami washed it up?  Carried by a herd of gulls for later snacking?  I've read that whales are sacred in many cultures that inhabit ocean shores, but they typically bury the carcass or some other ritual.  I would think it being so far out of it's natural habitat, if it were dead and drifted so far it would have been scavenged and not as intact as it appears to be.  Perhaps over fishing are pushing humpbacks closer to Brazil in search of food.  That's a nice whale tail btw.^^^^
Comment icon #14 Posted by Habitat 5 years ago
Probably dumped there by the massive tidal bores known as the Pororoca, the whale likely already dead.
Comment icon #15 Posted by psyche101 5 years ago
It was only 15 meters inland. Not all that far, and doesn't seem unlikely that a wild storm would wash it up that far. 
Comment icon #16 Posted by Farmer77 5 years ago
Yeah the "inland" part is hugely exaggerated here. You can see that the animal is sitting on a tidal flat of sorts in the pics, and in fact you can see where the water is behind the guys where the trees open up
Comment icon #17 Posted by EnderOTD 5 years ago
I haven’t looked up the migration patterns of hump backs, but the article is implying that it’s not supposed to be feeding or near the the north coast of Brazil this time of year.  I was joking about the tsunami and gulls.  What Habitat suggested may very likely be the culprit, I would still think it would have been scavenged as whale carcasses are a great source of protein for many opportunistic ocean dwellers.
Comment icon #18 Posted by EnderOTD 5 years ago
“Along with this astonishing feat, we are baffled as to what a humpback whale is doing on the north coast of Brazil during February because this is a very unusual occurrence."   It’s a calf and likely was separated from its mother at some point, quite baffling.
Comment icon #19 Posted by Essan 5 years ago
Did they check to see if there was a bowl of petunias in the vicinity?  


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