Published:
15 Oct 2022 07:07 GMT
Investigators believe they may have died of poisoning from harmful algal blooms, also known as ‘red tides’.
The number of dead southern right whales on the coast of the Valdés peninsula, located in southern Argentina, has increased to 30, according to a release published this Thursday by the Whale Conservation Institute (ICB).
Specifically, between September 24 and October 10, the bodies of 26 adult specimens and four juveniles in different areas of the Nuevo Gulf and San José, all of them in similar conditions.
The scientific director of the ICB and co-director of the Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program, Mariano Sironi, explained that it is an “unusual event of whale mortality”, for which they have already begun to analyze the bodies of the specimens. At the moment, none of them have abnormal injuries or recent traumatic injuries that could have caused their death.
The researchers believe that they could have died from poisoning by harmful algal blooms, also known as ‘red tides’, since very high levels of biotoxins have been detected in samples of plankton and bivalves from the site. However, we will still have to wait for the laboratory results, which will be ready in about two weeks, in order to confirm this hypothesis.
“unfortunate situation”
These blooms affect certain organisms, for example, mammals and birds. Some of these toxins have paralyzing properties and damage the respiratory system, and can even cause death by suffocation. Others affect the gastrointestinal and nervous systems.
Sironi stated that the death of each adult whale represents a “major loss” taking into account their genetic baggage and their “ancestral knowledge of the processes and corners of the ocean they inhabit”. For this reason, he assures that they are committed to thoroughly investigating this “unfortunate situation” to continue protecting them now and in the future.
However, the statement details that the population of right whales in the Valdés peninsula is in a good state of conservation, since it increases every year. In fact, they detail that this event probably won’t affect its large-scale dynamics if it doesn’t become recurrent.
