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The carcass of a huge fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was discovered near the Italian port of Sorrento earlier this week, the Italian Coast Guard said in a Facebook post.
Authorities discovered the carcass on Sunday January 17, before towing it to the nearby port of Naples. The whale was around 20 meters long and probably weighed over 77 tons (70 metric tons) – possibly making the corpse “one of the largest” ever found in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the agency.
Coast Guard divers first discovered the whale after a young calf swam in the port of Sorrento in a state of distress, according to reports. The calf is said to have sunk its head into the harbor walls several times before falling back under the water; when the divers followed him, they discovered the corpse of the fin whale.
Related: Images of whales: giants of the deep
The calf is presumed to be the offspring of the dead whale, and the Coast Guard is watching for signs of the young whale’s return. Meanwhile, marine biologists in Naples are working to determine what killed the whale.
Fin whales (also known as fin whales) are the second largest animals on the planet, after the iconic blue whale. The fins can reach 25 m in length and weigh up to 80 tons (72 metric tons), depending on the The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They are considered endangered after commercial whaling decimated the world’s fin population over the past century.
Today, commercial whaling is illegal in much of the world, and collisions with boats pose the greatest threat to fins, according to NOAA.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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