The Oceanogràfic València and the Civil Guard crew were called out on Saturday, March 7, 2023, to aid a fin whale that approximately weighed 40 tons.
The skipper of a boat notified the Civil Guard of what they thought was a fin whale, appearing to be trapped in a drift net.
This call prompted the Fundación Oceanogràfic rescue squad to prepare and approach the creature safely, with the help of the Civil Guard Patrol Boat.
The fin whale or scientifically known as the Balaenoptera physalus, is the second largest mammal on Earth, next to the blue whale.
Fin whales belong to the family of Balaenopteridae and we can find them in all the world’s major oceans.
These majestic whales can grow up to 27 meters or 89 feet in length and can weigh up to 74,000 kg (163,142 lbs).
These whales aren’t hard to distinguish since they have a distinctive appearance.
Fin whales have long, streamlined body that is mostly gray, dark grey, or black.
They also have this tall and pointed dorsal fin that you can find about two-thirds of the way down their back, hence the name.
Like most of our animals, fin whales are beautiful creatures of the sea.
Unfortunately, fin whales are now considered endangered species by IUCN or Union for Conservation of Nature.
This is why, upon hearing the report, the staff of Oceanogràfic València and the Civil Guard crew wasted no time.
Everyone who saw the initial photos thought that the poor fin whale was trapped in a net, unable to move, and causing the weird posture that they saw.
Right away they took action and after further examination by Oceanogràfic biologists and veterinarians, they realized that the fin whale hadn’t been trapped.
What they found out was that the fin whale suffered a serious deviation on its spine, or what we commonly know as scoliosis.
The whale’s scoliosis is of unknown origin, but it was obvious that this condition altered his natural anatomy of swimming.
Even if they wanted to place a remote tracker on the fin whale, to monitor him, it wasn’t possible due to the vast open sea and the whale’s malformation.
They still wanted to study the cause and other information about the fin whale’s scoliosis.
However, even without the tracker, these professionals think that they would see the fin whale again, given that it was having a hard time swimming.
While scoliosis is a familiar term for us, this isn’t common with whales.
Scoliosis is a medical condition that is diagnosed when the spine curves abnormally to one side.
Different underlying factors, such as neuromuscular disorders, genetics, and even developmental abnormalities could cause this condition.
But what about whales?
There have been reports that due to the increasing traffic with global shipping, many whales have been encountering big ocean vessels, causing trauma to their bodies.
In fact, just last year, drone cameras tracked a humpback whale with a broken back. You can read the post here.
We’re hoping that our technology would be able to help these beautiful sea creatures.
Watch the drone video of the fin whale swimming below.
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