44 “critically endangered” ‘botos’ (porpoises, Latin name Phocoena phocoena) have washed up on the coast between Caminha and Peniche this year, and biologists at ECOMARE, the centre for research and rehabilitation in marine animals, are concerned. The number is “alarming”; already more than the normal tally for a whole year, they explain. Necropsies have to be undertaken but suspicions are that this could be linked to rising sea temperatures, in that ‘botos’ prefer cooler waters, and those between Caminha and Peniche are the coolest Portugal can offer these days.
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