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Rome (AP) - Rare visit: The surprising sighting of a young gray whale on the coast of Italy causes excitement and speculation about its origin.
Because the giant animals actually live in other regions of the world, in the East Pacific and in the West Pacific waters.
Most recently, the obviously curious young animal was seen on the Mediterranean coast near Fiumicino near Rome, as the coast guard reported on Thursday.
The approximately one-year-old gray whale had swam around the Gulf of Naples near Sorrento and near the island of Ponza in the previous days.
He was also spotted in front of the US naval base in Gaeta.
The Coast Guard asked the Italians to leave the whale, which can grow to be 15 meters long, alone.
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There were similar appeals from animal rights activists.
Because the animal showed little fear, which attracts whale fans.
The newspaper “La Repubblica” affectionately called the gray whale “Wally” on Wednesday.
The animal had already got caught in a net once, but was released.
Animal rights activists approached him, and someone even tried to stroke the whale.
The appearance of a gray whale in the Mediterranean is extremely rare.
It was said that one was seen before Israel in 2010.
Several experts suspect that the melting of the polar ice caps in the Arctic will open up new routes into the Atlantic for gray whales.
In fact, the marine mammals in this ocean were thought to be extinct.
"Gray whales are coastal whales and sometimes invade large lagoons," wrote whale protectors from the Marevivo organization.
So you could also explore the path in the Mediterranean.
“He's probably malnourished because our ecosystem doesn't have enough resources.
But he is strong enough to move in search of food, ”wrote the association.
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“La Repubblica” quoted the Mexican whale expert Jorge Urban with concern: “Will he survive?
It all depends on the food. "
The journey for gray whales is long: "North America, Iceland, Spain and finally the Mediterranean, a great lagoon for them," says Urban.
Other experts suggested that because of its young age, the animal might even have been born in the Atlantic.
This would raise new research questions about the return of animals to earlier regions of life.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210422-99-312309 / 4