Injured beached sperm whale dies in Portugal

Whale lying on sand, animal news
Sperm whale washed up on the shore of the beach in Fonte da Telha, Almada, Portugal, April 15, 2022, credit: Reuters/Miguel Pereira

An injured sperm whale who stranded on a beach in Portugal died Friday night. The whale washed up on the shore of Fonte da Telha beach in Almada on Friday morning, authorities said.

Attempts to guide the 10-meter long whale to deeper waters were unsuccessful. “At this point very little [chance of survival]. We have to wait until he dies. There is no other way,” Marina Sequeira, a biologist at Portugal’s Nature Conservation Institute and Forestry (ICNF), said Friday afternoon.

Sequeira said that the whale was probably hit by a large vessel and that when that happens, the chance of survival is very small. The animal had fractures and injuries on his body.

The whale died at 9:30 pm, and the body would be removed, the captain of the Port of Lisbon told Lusa news agency.


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