A giant right whale was stranded on the beach in Zikim this morning (Tuesday).
The Mediterranean sea otter population was classified as endangered by the IUCN in 2021. According to the latest estimate, the Mediterranean population is between 250-2500 individuals, and is in decline.
Eviatar Ben Avi, the inspector of the marine unit at the Nature and Parks Authority, said: "I received a report this morning about a whale that washed up on Zikim Beach in the Yam Shikma Marine Nature Reserve. This is a large whale of the Rasshan species. I saw a huge fin and it appears to be not moving.".
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
Dr. Danny Morik and Yali Meborak from the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Laboratory of the Leon Czerny School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa, as well as Matan Benedict from the Delphis Association are on their way to the scene to perform an autopsy on the whale's body in order to determine the circumstances of death.
Dr. Mia Elser of the Delfis Association: "Since the beginning of the research in Israel, the bodies of eight humpback whales have been documented on the country's coasts - including the one discovered in Zikkim this morning.".
She said, "Since 2020, there have been more sightings of live cetaceans at sea, and this is consistent with the increase in the number of dead ones that have washed ashore.".
Dr. Aviad Sheinin, director of the Dolphin and Sea Center of the Delphis Association and head of the super-predators department at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station: "The Mediterranean porpoise population is different and genetically isolated from the porpoise population that lives in the Atlantic Ocean. It even has its own special dialect - a sequence of clicks that they make that characterizes only them.".
According to him, the main dangers faced by the whalers are drift nets, which float in the deep sea to catch swordfish and tuna, and both whales and sharks are caught in them as bycatch.
""Further harm to these whales is caused by seismic surveys for gas and oil exploration, which may damage their hearing or distance them from food sources. Plastic waste also harms deep-sea divers such as the humpback whale.".
