Humpback whale calf found in Amazon mangrove

Biologists are trying to solve the mystery of how the carcass of a humpback whale ended up in the Amazon jungle recently, reports Newsweek.

The mammal was found in the Marajo island of Brazil, about 50 feet from the ocean. A team of biologists from the Bicho D’água Institute posted pictures of the whale, reported to be a 12-month-old calf, onto social media.

ALSO READ: Four-ton beached whale washes up in Amanzimtoti

In a statement posted on Facebook along with the photos, the Bicho D’água Institute said that the whale was “not an adult animal and not as big as it looks in the images”.

The Maritime Herald suggested that the whale may have died after ingesting plastics from the ocean before being swept along by the waves into the jungle’s shore.

Renata Emin, a marine specialist, told Brazilian news site O Liberal: “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.

The Municipal Secretariat of Health, Sanitation and Environment (SEMMA) is investigating why the mammal was so far away from its natural habit at this time of the year.

An autopsy to determine the whale’s cause of death is expected to take 10 days.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.