Fin Whale

[Guest JohnGalway]

Bit of a sad story this. A few days ago this fella beached himself (well, I think it's a he..) near where I live. Even made the national papers today, slow news day I expect. Apparently he's a Fin whale, semi mature and very much on the thin side, just under 22 feet in length. Thought I'd post a few pictures, not often we get to see a whale, prefer to see him alive and well myself!

 

 

 

 

 

[Tis TM 8]

How sad

Edited December 31, 2007 by john b
to remove repeated pics

[harrycatcat 31]

Shame... ..beautiful creature.

 

 

I have to agree,

[byron 1,279]

just a bit of info. me old man use to catch em, not the fin whale the larger sperm/right whale. he worked for christen salvesons.[on the catchers] was then biggest whaling company in the world. fished out of durban south africa, down to south georgea. told me allways norwegian on the harpoon.after he died a few years ago my mam gave me his old whaling work contract which i gave later on to the whaling museum in hull. the factory boat he worked of was called the hektoria. which was torpedoed in the second world war. if anyone is interested google [hektoria] more info on there. thanks, cheers byron

[Guest BLUEBUNNIE]

Its a shame to see, but he didnt look very healthy We had a dolphin up here a few years ago and all the local kids used to go and swim with it.

[Guest Frank]

That does seem sad John. Not sure anyone knows why it happens ither.

[snoopdog 1,256]

it is a great shame john /...but thats nature mate ...so make the most of it and get some bags filled mate ..plenty of dog food there ..,,,,, ...i bet the mutts would thrive of of that rich meat

Edited December 31, 2007 by snoopdog

[Kay 3,709]

awww thats very sad , he should be swimming with the fishes

[Dawn B 212]

What a shame, such a beautiful animal. Thanks for the photos dont think i have heard of, let alone seen a Fin Whale before.

[fireman 11,457]

Thats what i was thinking Snoopdog got to be a ton of meat there,shame to see but a bigger shame to see it go to waste.Still how would have a freezer that big?.

[rabitin girl 16]

Such a shame

[Guest JohnGalway]

It's very sad I think myself, must've been pretty sick to beach himself in the first place. I know he was alive when he arrived first. I never thought there'd be such beautiful creatures so near to where I live, they must pass along the coast regular. I know we often have dolphins around, they put on a great display if you're in the right place at the right time. Don't know why but I've always had a soft spot for whales!

[IanB 0]

Fins are on the endangered species list, doesn't bother the japanese though...

 

The Fin whale is the second largest animal on the planet and is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Known as the “greyhound of the sea” the species is capable of reaching speeds of up to 40km/hour which, until the development of modern commercial whale hunting techniques, allowed populations to escape the early whaling industry. However, although speed may have helped them in the past, Fin whale populations were severely reduced worldwide between 1904 and 1979 (a reduction of around 750 000 individuals) due primarily to commercial whaling. Today, their current status is poorly known especially in areas outside the North Atlantic where studies have shown there to be a series of populations with limited genetic exchange.

 

Even with a global ban on the hunting of the Fin whale, these endangered animals are affected by additional threats such as entanglement in fishing gear, pollution (including noise pollution, increasing amounts of plastic debris at sea, oil spills and dumping of industrial wastes), disturbance from seismic operations and a decrease in krill as a result of climate change.

[Rolfe 2]

Well thats nature in the raw i suppose...........such a beautiful creature as well.........so sad.

 

Rolfey.

[Guest flint]

jg what have they got planned for it - often wonder what happens when this happens let us know if you find out