Hundreds of people visited Quarteira beach after a Fin Whale was washed ashore on March 5.
The whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is the second largest animal after the blue whale and an adult can reach a length of 27 metres.
The cause of death of this whale is not known but Élio Vicente, a marine biologist from Zoomarine in Guia, told the Algarve Resident: “This whale may have died from a bacterial infection, been hit by a boat or smothered by a fishing net. This species of whale is seven metres long at birth, and the one that was found dead was about nine metres, so it was a juvenile, only a few months old.”
Élio Vicente added: “It is difficult to draw a conclusion but probably the whale had been dead for between one and two days. Whales are born without a full immune system and half of these do not survive beyond their first year.”
Technicians from Loulé municipality removed the whale for disposal.
