File this under “how?”
If you watched the video above, you’re probably about as confused as we are.
The young humpback was found in the mangroves on the edge of the Amazon jungle, and nobody is exactly sure how it got so far from the shore.
We’re used to seeing humpbacks on dives, out by boats, and generally in places where they swim, but explorers were only alerted to the presence of something both large and deceased when a large group of scavenging birds started to circle above. Having their interest piqued by the sheer mass of the swarm, they tried not once, but twice, to reach the location of whatever it was attracting them.
What it turned out to be was a giant whale, sitting on the floor of the jungle.
After examination by the Bicho D’água Institute it was determined the eight-meter, one-year-old whale was swimming with its mother during the migratory cycle and became separated. From there the tide probably pulled it close to shore.
“We’re still not sure how it landed here, but we’re guessing that the creature was floating close to the shore and the tide, which has been pretty considerable over the past few days, picked it up and threw it inland, into the mangrove,” said Renata Amin, a local marine mammal expert on the island of Marajó.
From here, all the team can do is conduct an autopsy to determine the whale’s cause of death, which might give some insight into how it ended up where it is. Another thing which strikes the scientists as strange is that humpbacks are rarely found in the area during this time of year.
“Along with this astonishing feat, we are baffled as to what a humpback whale is doing on the north coast of Brazil during February because this is a very unusual occurrence,” Amin said.
While this is certainly all very strange, in 2007 a minke whale was found 1,000 miles from the ocean, also in the Amazon.
– Todd Allen Williams, Senior Editor