The remains of a fin whale that was 32 feet long were found wedged onto the bow of a Japanese tanker while it was pulling into the harbor.
Incredibly shocking images depict the enormous creature sprawled out over the vessel at Mizushima’s port Mizushima in Kurashiki city on Tuesday.
The locals rushed to call the Coast Guard after they saw the body of the mammal. Local news outlet Yomiuri stated that the tanker had been sailing throughout the Pacific Ocean to Mizushima port. The crew claimed that they didn’t realize that they had struck an animal.
The Mizushima Coast Guard Department spokesperson said they’d never witnessed something like this before and that measures to stop this incident from happening again are being studied.
Institute of Cetacean has stated that the body could is of a Rorqual family, which consists of the fin whale, although it’s not official yet.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a.k.a IUCN, has the finback whale as endangered species; hence this incident has become a big ordeal.
It is the second-longest type in cetacean Earth, following the blue whale. It can reach heights above 27.3 meters (89.6 feet) and weigh 75 tons. The whale lives throughout the large oceans ranging from the tropical to the polar oceans.
Most of the whales were hunted to endangerment back in the day. Similarly, about seven hundred twenty-five thousand finback whales were hunted to endangerment back in 1905-76. Currently, it is believed that about a maximum of 120,000 finbacks are out in the world.
According to another news outlet, there is a chance that it could also be a humpback after looking at its chin pattern.
The information on which company owns this tanker and the team members will be examined. The company hasn’t been identified.
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