Rare Blue Whale Dead Due to Ship Strike?
A Blue Whale washed up dead on the shores of Walvis Bay, Namibia on 27 April 2021. The animal was confirmed to be a female that was just over 18 meters in length and had several injuries consistent with a ship strike. The cause of death cannot be confirmed without conducting a full necropsy which is out of our logistical and financial capabilities. However, this seems the most likely explanation given the injuries observed.
Passive acoustic monitoring of the low-frequency calls produced by Blue Whales indicates an increase in Namibian waters in recent years. This is great news however, shipping continues to pose a threat through ship strikes and low-frequency sounds which can mask their communication.
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This video uses sound from freesound:
"oceanwavescrashing.wav" by Luftrum (https://freesound.org/people/Luftrum/... ) licensed under CCBY 3.0.