More than 300 dead whales in Chile's coast

Chilean scientists discovered the largest collective dead whale case ever with 337 bodies found in Patagonia.

The shallow whale dies collectively in Patagonia

IB Times reported on November 23, a research team from the University of Chile and the Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales in Santiago found the body of the whale through aerial photographs and satellite images. Scientists counted a total of 305 whales and 32 skeletons in the area between Penas Bay and Puerto Natales.

Shallow dead whale corpses into groups.(Photo: Vreni Haussermann).

The whales were first discovered in June. Because the location found bodies located in remote areas, the team could not conduct the test so the cause of their death is still a mystery.

Carolina Simon Gutstein, head of the research team, said the corpses are sei whales , an extinct species of horned whales. They often live in deep water offshore and migrate from cold water in summer to warm water in winter. This species can be up to 19.5m long and weighs 28 tons.

David Lusseau, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, UK, says this is the biggest stranding of horned whales."I don't know which events include such a large number of animals. Seeing so many whales sei stranded into groups is too unusual , " Lusseau said. Lusseau also said that the actual number of dead whales may be higher because of the possibility that only a part of the fish body would be washed ashore.

Chilean researchers are planning to return to the area to detect whale carcasses to find out what caused them to die. Previously, the cause was attributed to the rampant development of toxic microorganism organizations.

The whale dying whales were first discovered in Patagonia, Chile, in June this year.(Photo: Carolina Simon Gutstein).

"The work will be very difficult because we have no conditions to contact the dead whale carcass. This will hinder the process of detecting the cause , " Lusseau said.

A number of similar incidents have taken place in a wider area in recent years, including thousands of dead-shore shore seabirds in Hualpen, Chile, in May this year and more than 400 dolphins. landed on the beach in northern Peru in January 2014.

"There is something going on in the Pacific Ocean. We cannot know for sure before the veterinarian studies the corpses. This year, this Pacific Ocean is warmer than usual and that. may be a direction of investigation, " Lausse commented.