Sperm Whale That Releases Red Ink Made of Faeces Washes Up on UK Beach (Watch Video)
The adult mammal was found on Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire where the general public has only limited access as it is owned by the Ministry of Defence.
A rare pygmy sperm whale washed upon Welsh beach on Wednesday. The adult mammal was found on Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire where the general public has only limited access as it is owned by the Ministry of Defence. It releases red ink made of faecal matter. The 2.5m dead whale has been dubbed as 'CSI of the Sea'. At the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) Regent's Park site, it is being analysed by the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme. The whale's carcass is the 14th pygmy whale to wash up on UK's shores. Dead Baby Blue Whale Washes Ashore on Kamakura Beach in Japan.
Nothing much is known about the species. Marine biologist Rob Deaville, head of the Defra-funded Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSI) is dissecting the big fish to check if the human impact has affected the marine environment leading to its death. Rob Deaville was quoted as saying, "We're looking at different possibilities: chemical contaminants in the environment, physical pollution such as plastics, noise pollution from shipping and certain offshore industries, by-catch from fishing, or a different cause of death altogether." Mystery Sea Creature Washes Ashore Canterbury Beach in New Zealand.
Following an examination, Deaville said, "That's really a consistent picture with what we see with a lot of these offshore pelagic animals, or oceanic animals, that come in close to shore and tend not to be able to feed, and then, of course, they may strand and that's it." It is through stranding events that scientists get to know about pygmy sperm whales. They gather and use it for research purposes.
Watch the video below:
Deaville added saying, "It certainly looks like it's very consistent with an out-of-habitat animal in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Although they are obviously sad, they give us a chance to try and learn as much as we can about animals like these, which are actually incredibly hard to study in the wild."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2019 10:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).