Humpback whales migrate to Antarctica during this time of the year but this one was found thousands of miles away from where it’s supposed to be.
Marine biologists worldwide are left baffled because a young humpback whale has been found dead in the middle of an Amazon forest in Brazil.
The corpse of the whale was discovered when members of the conservation group Bicho D’Água followed a trail of vultures that were circling a mangrove on the island. According to local officials, the whale had been dead for at least several days before the group found it.
What has left scientists confused is that even though there are thousands of humpback whales living in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil, almost all of them migrate to Antarctica to feed.
However, this particular whale was found 4,000 miles away from its expected feeding ground.
The whale is apparently too big and in a very remote area to be removed entirely, so biologists have taken samples for necropsy to determine the cause of death.
Apparently, the rising humpback population has increased the chances of them getting struck by a boat or getting entangled in a fishing net. According to the International Whaling Commission, around 300,000 whales and dolphins die every year after getting caught in fishing gear.
Twitter also had its own bit to contribute to this.
Agree. We will prob start to see lots of weird things. The poles are moving at a alarming rate yet no one seems to really put this in the main media… it’s a real problem.
— DCSamuelson (@DcSamuelson) February 26, 2019
It was very shocking and rare to see a humpback whale in the Amazon River seeing that a humpback whales lives in sea water. Could it be a sign of climate change? @AndiniMku #MjInter2018
— dinda (@bbydins) February 26, 2019
If this isn’t a sign the world’s about to end (oh and that it was 20C in February), I don’t know what else is https://t.co/JNL5z2UzcN
— Olivia Alabaster (@OliviaAlabaster) February 25, 2019
This is scary.
