Massive fin whale, a vulnerable species, beaches itself in northern France
- Animal experts are preparing to carry out an autopsy
- The mammal is the second biggest in the world after blue whale
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French animal experts are preparing to conduct an autopsy on a 19-metre-long whale that died after getting stranded at the northern port of Calais.
The fin whale, weighing around 15 tonnes, apparently beached itself after getting injured, a rare phenomenon in the area.
Fin whales, the second-biggest mammal species in the world after the blue whale, are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“It is a female, about 30 years old, who ran aground on Saturday,” said Jacky Karpouzopoulos of the CMNF animal protection group.
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“She was sick but she reached the port of Calais still alive, then she went too close to the rocks and she ran aground.”
Karpouzopoulos said the whale would be pulled to an area where they could carry out an autopsy on November 9.
Several species of whale populate the waters around France. Earlier this year, a humpback whale was discovered washed up on a beach in France’s Mediterranean south.
