Another dead whale and the alarm goes off on the Buenos Aires coast.
Just a week after the grim discovery of a lifeless whale on the Costanera Norte in the City of Buenos Aires, this Monday another specimen in similar conditions was found floating in the waters of the Paraná River, near the city of Zárate.
This discovery marks the third case of dead whales recorded in the last two weeks, causing growing concern among specialists and environmentalists. Previously, a similar incident had been reported in the town of Vicente López.
A decomposing body and a tracking operation
The animal, whose presence was noticed floating near the coast by a group of passersby, was in an advanced state of decomposition, making an accurate initial identification difficult.
Dead whale found in Zárate[/caption>
Upon receiving notification of the discovery, personnel from the Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA) immediately took charge of the sweeping and securing operation of the area.
The security force promptly informed specialists from the National Directorate of Wildlife and CONICET.
These experts traveled to the site to carry out the corresponding investigations, with the primary goal of determining the exact causes of death of this marine mammal.
Possible causes and the enigma of the river route
The scientists involved in the investigation do not rule out various hypotheses about the death of the specimen, which preliminarily could be a humpback whale.
Among the possibilities considered are collisions with vessels at sea or on their way to the coast, health complications that fatally weakened it, or even the adverse effects of storms at sea that could have disoriented or injured it, leading to its death.
One of the circulating early versions suggests that the whale may have swum for several hours from the sea, crossing a considerable stretch of freshwater to reach that section of the Paraná River.
This hypothesis highlights the unusual route of the cetacean and raises questions about the factors that led it so far up the river.
Regarding the removal of the body, the Naval Prefecture reported that the operation is under careful analysis, considering the potential environmental impact that a maneuver of this magnitude could have on the river ecosystem.
Dead whale, an alarming pattern: preceding cases
The finding of the dead whale in Zárate adds to a series of similar events that have shocked public opinion in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) in the last two weeks:
- Whale in Costanera Norte: The previous week, a similar episode was recorded in Buenos Aires. A whale of approximately six meters long was found stranded on the Costanera Norte, specifically near the Parque de la Memoria and the Tierra Santa complex. The complex task of obtaining samples from the specimen and subsequently removing it from the site began the day after its discovery. This operation, carried out by Naval Prefecture personnel, required a considerable operation that included the use of three vessels.
- Cetacean in Vicente López: The news of the whale in Costanera Norte had already generated a strong impact because, just five days earlier, on July 9, another cetacean was found dead by a fisherman at kilometer 18 of the coastal canal, in Vicente López. On that occasion, security force personnel confirmed that the mammal was lifeless and stranded in the La Lucila neighborhood. This first case was also particularly striking, as the whale was easily divisible and lay just a few meters from the coast, with its fins up, and in a deep state of decomposition.
The recurrence of these findings raises deep concern and an urgent call to authorities and the scientific community to intensify investigations and understand the causes behind this concerning series of cetacean deaths in Buenos Aires waters.
