The
coast of southern Chile has become a grave for 337 sei whales that were
found beached in what scientists say is one of the biggest whale
strandings ever recorded.
Biologist
Vreni Haussermann told The Associated Press Tuesday that she made the
discovery along with other scientists in June during an observation
flight over fjords in Chile’s southern Patagonia region. The team has
been collecting samples since then.
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“This
is one of the largest strandings worldwide,” said Haussermann, the
director of the Huinay Scientific Field Station, which focuses on marine
research. She declined to disclose the conclusions, which will be
published by a scientific journal later this year.
The
scientific expedition counted 305 bodies and 32 skeletons of whales
through aerial and satellite photography in the remote Aysen area
between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales. The cause of death of the
sei whales is unknown, but human intervention has been ruled out.
Whale
strandings are common in Aysen, a region of southern Patagonia where
rainfall is nearly constant and rivers plunge from Andean glaciers to
the Pacific Ocean through green valleys and fjords.
“They
probably died at sea, we don’t know exactly where, but they didn’t just
die by stranding,” said Carolina Simon Gutstein, a paleontologist at
University of Chile who was part of the team.
Sei,
humpback and blue whales, which belong to the rorquals family, are the
largest group of baleen whales, and “are not normally seen gathering in
large groups,” Gutstein said.
Scientists
say the whale die-off might help them find out more about their habits
and develop policies to protect them, including the creation of a whale
sanctuary in the Gulf of Penas.
The
first 37 beached whales were found in April by a team led by
Haussermann. They alerted the National Fisheries Service, which launched
an investigation in May together with environmental police and the
Chilean Navy.
Since
the Fisheries Service did not carry out observation flights, the
scientists got funding for their own flights in June and August. They
were unable to examine the whales because the area is so remote, the
coast is so steep and the sea is so rough that it makes it nearly
impossible to land. But they were still able to take the photographs to
confirm the deaths.
Based
on their size and location, scientists believe they are all sei whales.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the sei as an
endangered species. Also called pollack, adults can be longer than 50
feet (15 meters) and weigh 20 tons or more.
Between
1999 and 2001, about 600 gray whales were stranded on the North
American Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico. But scientists say it
happened over a longer period of time and in a larger area.