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Marine experts are dwarfed by the whale
A specimen of the tropical rorqual whale (Balaenoptera edeni) was found dead on Puertecito Beach in the municipality of Maria Colotepec, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, the Profepa environmental protection agency said.

Profepa said in a bulletin that it has taken over the case and has applied the measures laid down in the protocol for dealing with stranded marine mammals.

The large whale, measuring 10.8 meters (35 feet) long and weighing approximately 8 tons, was observed by personnel of the federal delegation of Profepa in the agency, in coordination with the University of the Sea, or UMAR.

Specialists studying the whale specimen identified it as a tropical rorqual, also known as a Bryde's whale.

"This mysticete cetacean has a wide distribution across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and is only absent from the cold Arctic and Antarctic waters," the statement said.

The note also indicated that whales of this kind feed on small shoals of fish and squid, crustaceans like the Mysidacea and krill, and though the causes of its death are being studied, it is considered possible that the whale was affected by the natural red tide phenomenon, or algal bloom.

The tropical rorqual whale is a species listed as subject to special protection.

Source: EFE