In February 2019, a small boat sailed along the waves of Aaluna Beach on the island of Marajó in northern Brazil. The fishermen on the boat were hypnotized by the regular rumbling of the long-tail engine and became lethargic. Suddenly, one of the fishermen woke up their companions and asked them to look at a strange giant in the jungle.
Triple fog
With great curiosity, several fishermen sailed to the beach and docked on the shore. After struggling to reach a mountain pass, they suspected that there was something wrong with their eyes: about 15 meters from the shore, in an environment where mangrove roots and palm leaves were intertwined, an 8-meter-long humpback whale lay impressively ( Big-winged whale) Corpse!
The group immediately notified an institute responsible for monitoring, counting and protecting local marine animals. After determining that this was not a prank, the institute quickly sent a team to the scene. Facing the corpse of this young humpback whale (an adult humpback whale should be 15 meters long), experts suddenly had three doubts.
First of all, how did this baby whale travel more than ten meters from the sea to the mangrove forest? Climb here? impossible. Cetaceans are not so heavy that their muscles can only adapt to water activities in a state of almost weightlessness. They can't even breathe normally on hard land. Therefore, stranded whales often die of suffocation. In other words, it is impossible to climb across the beach first and then through the thick and intertwined trees to reach here!
Maybe it was done by poachers? Want to divide the prey away from the crowd, so take it to the dense forest? It is possible, but unless equipped with a crane with sufficient power, no one can move several tons of animals into the woods, not to mention that no traces of crawlers or tires have been found on the scene. Could it be that the whales were transported here by a large helicopter? It is also unlikely, because it is too conspicuous and not cost-effective from a cost point of view.
Die alone
So the scientists present quickly came to the conclusion: This whale "swim" by itself. “This beach is relatively flat, so when the tide is low, the sea will recede very far, and when the tide is high, it can rush to the jungle.” explained Mora Susa, the director of the institute.
At the end of February of this year, the height difference between the rising and falling tides was as large as 3.8 meters. At high tide, a large part of the mangrove forest was submerged by sea water, and this whale happened to swim here with the high tide, and when the water receded, it was trapped in the woods.
But this can't help but make the experts have a second question: Why is this baby whale trapped here alone? Cetaceans are usually very concerned about their children and will not abandon their offspring, at least not until the baby whale is two or three years old, and this whale is obviously less than one year old. How did it separate from its mother? Was it attacked by fishermen or hit a fishing boat?
"We dissected this whale," said Valeria Sequeira, a professor at the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Federal University of Pará, Brazil. The scars hit by the harpoon showed no signs of being injured by blades, propellers, or fishing nets."
In this way, there is only one hypothesis left: it may be sick. Infected with viruses, bacteria, invaded by parasites, or swallowed plastic or other marine debris, and finally lost in a strange place due to physical discomfort? "But no matter whether it was the analysis of its gastrointestinal extracts or the analysis of organs and tissues of various parts of the body, no pathogens or any suspicious chemical substances were found." Valeria Sequeira unfolded. The situation is even more confusing!
What is it doing here?
Professor Sequeira also emphasized that many tests could not be performed due to the severe deterioration of the whale's carcass. "For example, it is impossible to judge whether certain organs of a whale are deformed. In fact, not long ago, we picked up a young manatee abandoned by our mother. We took good care of it, and then let it return to its original natural environment, hoping that relatives can Accepted it again. It turned out to be counterproductive, and the little manatee died in the end. It was found during an autopsy that it had a fatal brain deformity." Sequeira, a veterinarian, recalled. So, will this young humpback whale be abandoned for the same reason? The answer is unknown. The whale bones were displayed in the Emilio Geldi Museum in the State of Para after the on-site dissection.
The last question is, why does a humpback whale appear in such a place? "This is the first time we have found stranded individuals of this species in a mangrove forest." Valeria Sequeira confirmed, "We have never found humpback whales in this area in the past."
In recent years, There have been several strandings of large marine mammals in Para state. In 2017, a female sperm whale was found on Crispin Beach in Malapanin City, the state. The most recent time was on September 28, 2020. A small carnivore whale appeared in the town of Quatipuru, a few hundred kilometers east of Crispin Beach.
Long-distance traveler
Although there are many migration tracking studies of humpback whales based on GPS trackers, they have not been confirmed that humpback whales will swim to the coast of Para state in northern Brazil. Usually, their long-distance migration starts in Antarctica, and usually stops in the area of Rio Grande do Norte in eastern Brazil. So, how do you explain the humpback whale found in the state of Para?
"In my opinion, there must be whales going north on the way. It's just that the sea area in this area is far less convenient than the south, so their chances of being discovered by humans are correspondingly less." Mora Susa judged. .
In summer, they mostly live in cold water at high latitudes and feed mainly on krill. In the winter breeding season, humpback whales will return to tropical waters, and Brazil is a must for some populations: they swim from Antarctica to Brazil, but do not reach the northern state of Para. So far, their migration path is thought to end in Rio Grande do Norte.
Given that the population of humpback whales is still growing, the probability of meeting them by boat in their distribution area has naturally increased...Or, walking in the Amazon rainforest is also a way to meet humpback whales.
