By Eugenio Diaz.| the remains of a sperm whale have been detected this morning on the coast of adeje, in information provided by sources familiar with the sighting. To the naked eye, the cetacean measured between eight and ten meters in length, as well as presenting an obvious court which practically severed its tail.
Talking with the PhD in Biology from the University of La Laguna (ULL) and member of the Biodiversity, Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Group (Bioecomac) from said educational institution, Natacha Aguilar, confirmed to us in this regard that, in principle, “it presents a deep cut that almost severed the tail (caudal fin). This indicates that a possible cause of death is a collision and that the animal has died offshore and then has been washed ashore by the currents”, while explaining that, due to its dimensions, it is a subadult specimen in the case that it is confirmed that it is a male, or an adult if it is finally a female.
Aguilar wanted to emphasize that “I cannot reliably affirm that the cause of death was a collision, only that it shows signs (the big cut) of it. The correct thing is to consider that it is a possible cause but it is too soon to confirm it 100%).
Be that as it may, it should be remembered that “studies by the team of veterinarians from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canarias show that in almost all cases of sperm whales that stranded with signs of collision, the shock was premortem, that is, it was not that the animal was floating dead, but that it was alive when the ship ran over it”, points out the specialist.
