Dead humpback whale appears on the shore and attracts onlookers in Praia Grande, coast of SP

The city hall sent a team to the site, in Praia do Caiçara, in the Real neighborhood, and contacted the Biopesca Institute. The cetacean carcass was analyzed, samples were taken and removed on the same day.

Many people, including children, approached the dead whale to take images that were posted on social media. Some videos already have close to 1 million views.

The institute team isolated the area and collected material for analysis. The research can indicate whether any agent caused the death of the cetacean. The animal had no visible injuries, nor signs of possible entanglement - having been trapped in fishing nets.

The Urban Services Secretariat (Sesurb) of Praia Grande city hall used two wheel loaders to push the carcass out of the water. Then the remains were removed to a landfill.

I was migrating

According to marine biologist Eric Comin, a master's student in Biodiversity and Marine and Coastal Ecology at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), from the images, it is possible to identify that it is a young whale, measuring 10 to 12 meters and weighing between 20 and 25 tons.

According to him, at this time of year, humpback whales are on their long migratory journey to reproduce. "They leave the cold waters of Antarctica, where they spent the summer feeding and accumulating energy, and travel to the warmer waters off the Brazilian coast to breed and breastfeed their young," he says.

Many are at the peak of maturity and measure between 10 and 16 meters, weighing up to 50 tons. This is when they pass along the coast of São Paulo towards the Abrolhos region, in the south of Bahia.

According to Comin, the humpback whale is a cosmopolitan animal and can be found in all oceans on the planet.

Their migration is one of the largest movements among large animals.

In the case of the South Atlantic, as soon as winter begins in Antarctica, they begin a journey of 8 to 10 thousand kilometers on the round trip. Upon return, females are usually accompanied by cubs. Some end up not being able to survive the long trip.

Carried by winds and tides

Comin notes that the number of these cetaceans is increasing. "This year, around 30,000 humpback whales are expected to pass through our coast. This is a number that is growing rapidly, which is also causing cases of strandings and deaths to increase."

Normally, according to him, the dead whale sinks into the sea and becomes food for marine animal biodiversity. "In some cases, the carcass becomes full of gases and the animal floats. If there are wind and tide conditions, it can be pushed onto the beach."

He believes this happened to the Praia Grande whale. "We had strong winds last week in the region and also the full moon, causing a spring tide, with a high amplitude, that is, a rapid variation between very high and very low tide. I believe that the high tide took the humpback to the beach and dropped quickly, leaving the carcass stranded on the sand", he says.

Risk of accidents

The biologist warns that, in these cases, people should not approach the carcass. "There are many risks and one of them, the most obvious, is that the tide will throw the animal's body weighing several tons onto people. Furthermore, the carcass attracts predators, such as sharks, which can pose a risk of accidents."

There is also the problem of the stench and gases exhaled by the putrefying body, which can cause discomfort, headache, nausea and vomiting. "Not to mention that the organism in a state of decomposition can also have germs and attract other organisms and insects, which pose risks to people."

Rescued sea lions

The Biopesca Institute, which analyzed the whale, is part of the monitoring program for the Pre-Salt Santos Basin and promotes the conservation of marine species threatened with extinction. On Sunday, the 2nd, the team rescued a South American fur seal that came out of the sea on Satélite beach, in Itanhaém. Thin and weak, he was taken for rehabilitation at the Gremar Institute, in Guarujá.

On the 31st, the team monitored a subantarctic fur seal that came out of the sea on Balneário Maracanã beach, in Praia Grande. He was on a migratory trip. After 24 hours of observation, the sea lion returned to the sea.