The ancient bones reveal 2 species of whales lost in the Mediterranean Sea

Two thousand years ago, the Mediterranean Sea was a refuge for two species of whales that have virtually disappeared from the North Atlantic , a new study

The discovery of whale bones in the ruins of a Roman fish processing plant located in the Strait of Gibraltar also suggests the possibility that the Romans were able to hunt whales.

Prior to the study, by an international team of ecologists, archaeologists and geneticists, it was assumed that the Mediterranean Sea was outside the historical range of the gray whale and gray whale.

Researchers at York University's Department of Archeology fingerprinted collagen to identify bones as belonging to the North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ) and the gray whale of the Atlantic ( Eschrichtius robustus )

After centuries of whaling, the right whale is currently a highly threatened population off the east coast. North America and Gray Whale has completely disappeared from the North Atlantic and is now confined to the North Pacific. The study by Camilla Speller, of York University, said, "These new molecular methods open new windows to the ecosystems of the past. Whales are often neglected in archaeological studies because their bones are often too fragmented to be identifiable by their shape.

"Our study shows that these two species were once part of the Mediterranean marine ecosystem and probably used the sheltered pond as calving." The findings contribute to the debate over whether the Romans, in addition to capturing large fish such as tuna, had a form of whaling industry or if the bones were evidence of opportunistic cleaning of stranded whales along the coast.

Both species of whales are migratory , and their presence in the east of Gibraltar is a strong indication that they had already entered the Mediterranean Sea.

The Gibraltar region was at the center of a massive fish processing industry during the Roman period.The ruins of hundreds of plants with large salt pans are still visible today in the region.

author of the study Dr. Ana Rodrigues, of the C between French national scientific research, said: "The Romans did not have the technology to capture the types of great whales that are currently found in the Mediterranean, which are high-seas species. But the gray and straight whales and their calves would have moved closer to the shore, making them attractive targets for local fishermen. "

It is possible that both species were captured with small rowing boats and harpoons, Basque whalers centuries later.

The knowledge that coastal whales were once present in the Mediterranean also sheds new light on ancient historical sources.

Anne Charpentier, professor at the University of Montpellier and co-author of the study, said: "We can finally understand a description of the 1st century by the famous Roman naturalist Pliny the Old , killer whales that attack whales and their newborns in Cadiz Bay.

"It does not correspond to anything we can see today, but it fits perfectly with the ecology if gray whales and gray whales were present."

The authors of the study now call on historians and archaeologists to examine their material in the light of the knowledge that coastal whales were once part of the Mediterranean marine ecosystem.

Dr. Rodriguez added, "It seems incredible that we could have lost and then forgotten two great species of whales in one area." "Studied like the Mediterranean, one wonders what we have forgotten about" [19659005] The calving grounds of the Mediterranean, forgotten gray whales and the North Atlantic: Roman archaeological evidence is published in the newspaper Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B . [19659005] The study was an international collaboration between scientists from the Universities of York, Montpellier (France), Cadiz (Spain), Oviedo (Spain) and the Fisheries Studies Center of Asturias, Spain.

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