A whale was found dead in Sorrento, Italy. The cetacean, which measures about 20 meters and weighs 75 tons, is the largest ever found in the Mediterranean, so that scientists think it is a cross with a blue whale – the largest animal on Earth.
Marevivo, Italian environmental NGO, has joined the call of other local associations and institutions, including the Marine Protected Area of Punta Campanella, to ask to verify the causes of death. The appeal has been heard: local and national institutions are trying to understand what caused the death of the whale, but the necropsy examination did not reveal any anthropogenic factors or external events.
Whales, a monument of nature. But how many are killed every year?
The images of the lifeless body of this enormous and magnificent creature upset us. Full of sadness we look at this whale, dead for unknown causes, yet how many are slaughtered for meat and trade, in general indifference?
Japan, Norway, Iceland, Russia, Korea and local whalers from several other countries have been hunting for decades – and some, such as Japan, that abandoned the International Whaling Commission (Iwc), continue to do so – killing thousands of whales every year.
Whales are extraordinary wild animals, recognized among the most intelligent creatures on the planet, with behaviors similar to ours. We would like everyone to be able to see them as we see them: sensitive creatures, with their own consciousness. Fundamental to that delicate balance that regulates our life on the planet.
