An unbelievable discovery has been made in the jungles of South America. The body of a humpback whale was found in the forest and nobody has any idea as to how it ended up there.
The 8-metre-long whale, which scientists think was around 1-year-old, was discovered in mangrove forests in Brazil within the Amazon rainforest, the world’s most expansive rainforest.
What makes the discovery even more strange is that the body was found 15 metres from any body of water.
Scientists have since rushed to the scene to investigate. They will take samples from the body, evaluate the local area, and try to confirm the cause of death. At present, the most likely scenario is that the whale swam up the river, became beached, and then was left on the ground by receding tides.
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Humpback whales are regarded as an endangered species, though their numbers have been rising somewhat in recent years due to conservation measures. They are found in waters across the globe and are known to travel or migrate tens of thousands of kilometres each year. They are also known to feed and breed near the river entrances of the Amazon, which is likely where this whale began its fateful journey.
A whale of this age would likely be living in a pod with other whales, so it is likely that the young whale became separated and then became more lost as it tried to find its family. Some whales are even known to die of stress if separated from their pod.
Other scientists have even proposed more outlandish theories as to why some whales get lost or beached, including solar storms, disruptions in the Earth's electromagnetic field, and sonar waves from commercial and military vessels. These issues can also cause a whale to surface too quickly causing death from decompression sickness.
As a result of climate change, many conservationists fear that migratory patterns of humpback whales could become disrupted and result in more of the animals sadly dying.
[h/t: IFL Science]
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