Dead Whale Washes Ashore In Egypt, Minister Says It Was Probably Suicide

The 39-foot-long dead whale which washed ashore Roshdy beach in the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt, on Sunday, might have died of suicide, the Egyptian environmental minister said.

In a telephonic interview with Egyptian talk show “Yahdoth Fe Masr,” Egyptian Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy said that the mammoth creature might have killed itself — a rare and inexplicable phenomenon that is often noticed in whales, Egypt Independent reported.

Whales are seen to purposefully travel to the shore when they are about to die. The phenomenon has perplexed marine biologists for ages as they couldn't detect a reason behind this behavior.

Fahmy added that the female finback whale, which was estimated to be dead within 24 hours of being spotted on the shore, did not have any fatal wounds on its body. The 4-ton-mammal was aged between seven to eight years and was among the second largest species of whale in the world. They are also, incidentally, among the endangered species in the world.

The only other explanation of its death, according to Fahmy, was that waves might have pulled it away from its swarm and thrust in into the shallow waters, from where it was unable to swim back.

Due to its unique nature, Environmental Affairs Agency Shehab Abdel Wahab said its skeleton will be scientifically studied. In order to obtain its bones, the whale will be transferred to the burial site in el-Max. There it will be placed under layers of lime and plastic for seven months as researchers await its decomposition. After its flesh is decomposed, its skeleton will be extracted and preserved in the laboratory for experts to study.

The black and white finback whale was believed to have been originally washed into the Mediterranean shores from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Strait of Gibraltar, because of a sea storm, Egyptian news outlet Ahram reported.

It drew the attention of an array of beachgoers, who stood on the Stanley Bridge in Alexandria, to catch a glimpse of the rare spectacle. Alexandria security directorate and civil protection forces were alerted and they soon secured the area where the whale was found.

The remains of the whale were then handed over by the authorities to a branch of the National Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF) in Alexandria.

Dead whales were seen washing ashore a number of beaches across the globe in the recent times. A giant humpback whale carcass washed ashore in November 2017 at the Ipanema beach in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

"Statistically, we are only able to determine the cause of a stranding in about 50 percent of all cases worldwide," Darlene Ketten, a neuroethologist and expert on hearing in marine mammals, said in 2009 to Scientific American. "In some cases, it is obvious, like a ship strike leaving an animal in poor condition. In the northeastern United States, pneumonia is a common cause of stranding."