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Date Published: 06/03/2023

ARCHIVED - Disorientated 17-metre whale with spinal deformity spotted off the coast of Cullera, Valencia

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After being observed by the Valencia Guardia Civil and a rescue team, the struggling 40-ton rorqual whale drifted back out to sea

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Disorientated 17-metre whale with spinal deformity spotted off the coast of Cullera, Valencia

The skipper of a boat in Valencia was stunned to come across a huge, disoriented 17-metre whale just 3km off the coast of Valencia on Saturday March 4.

The 40-ton whale was spotted drifting towards the shore of Cullera, an extremely rare occurrence for this species of cetacean, and concerning due to its apparent spinal deformity.

The skipper sighted the whale 3km from the beach and alerted Valencia's Guardia Civil. A patrol boat with the Oceanogràfic Foundation's rescue team on board, made up of five veterinary surgeons and two marine biologists, immediately sailed to the place where the whale had last been seen.

And using coordinates provided by the skipper, they soon spotted the mammal, which hadn't moved far at all.

Thanks to the agile manoeuvres of the patrol boat, which got as close to the whale as possible, Oceanogràfic Foundation experts noticed a worrying malformation in the animal, known as scoliosis, which they deduced could be the reason for its inability to swim very well.

Scoliosis is where the spine twists and curves to the side. However, whales are not known to develop scoliosis spontaneously, and although several reports on cetaceans with scoliosis exist, almost all cases have a clear cause which is mostly of traumatic origin, for example following collision with a ship.

Initially, an attempt was made to place a tracer on the whale's dorsal fin, but due to the malformation of its tail, it wasn't possible. Shortly afterwards, the whale drifted out to sea and away from the coast.

However, the rescue team has warned that it could reappear in the next few days due to its general condition and difficulty in swimming, and the local authorities, recovery centres and the Ministry of the Environment have been informed so that the animal can be monitored for future sightings.

The roqual species is the second largest whale on the planet, after the blue whale, and during the summer months it can be sighted in the waters of the Spanish Mediterranean.

The Oceanogràfic Foundation is currently taking part in the CaboRorcual project run by the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) to analyse the presence, origin and threats of these animals in Cabo de la Nao and the Ibiza channel.

As part of the project, the Valencian Aquarium Foundation is taking biological samples and satellite tagging these animals with the support of the Valencia Government and the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Democratic Challenge.

Image: Guardia Civil

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