A fin whale beached herself after getting injured on Saturday in the port of Calais, French animal experts said.
The 19-meter-long whale was a female, weighed around 15 tonnes and was about 30 years old, Jacky Karpouzopoulos of the CMNF animal protection group told AFP.
“She was sick, but she reached the port of Calais still alive, then she went too close to the rocks, and she ran aground,” Karpouzopoulos said. In pictures shared on social media, the animal is covered in blood.
According to Marcel Charpentier, president of the League for the Protection of Animals (LPA), the whale hit a metal pillar near a terminal.
Calais: une baleine d’une quinzaine de tonnes meurt échouée au port (photos et vidéos) https://t.co/mc95dVA4Yw pic.twitter.com/ZTESl05Ge8
— L'Echo de la Lys (@echodelalys) November 6, 2021
Karpouzopoulos said the fin whale would be pulled to an area where they could carry out an autopsy on Tuesday.
Fin whales are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Several species of whale live in the waters around France. Earlier this year, a humpback whale was discovered washed up on a beach in France’s Mediterranean south.
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