Scientists necropsy a fin whale killed by ship strike off central Chile in May 2018. Pablo Espinoza
Following whale deaths, Chilean researchers call for greater protections
May. 11, 2021 , 2:05 PM
SANTIAGO, CHILE It wasn’t hard for researchers to deduce what had killed the blue whale. The huge mammal, found on Chile’s southern Patagonian coast, was young and had no signs of disease. But beneath its ribs were a 1-meter-long hematoma and other wounds that were sure signs of “blunt trauma,” says Frederick Toro Cortes, a medical veterinarian at Santo Tomás University here.
“The only thing that can have that kind of impact on a blue whale the largest animal on the planet is a large ship,” says Mauricio Seguel, a colleague of Toro Cortes who is a veterinary pathologist at the University of Guelph.