The carcass of a sperm whale washed ashore in Israel on Tuesday morning, at Zikim Beach, the country’s southernmost Mediterranean beach.
According to Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, it initially received a report about a beached whale at the Yam Shiqma Marine Nature Reserve area at Zikim Beach.
Experts made their way to the scene to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan.
https://x.com/kann_news/status/2026225967044120656
Since marine research began in Israel, a total of eight carcasses of sperm whales have been documented along the country’s coastline, including this one, said Mia Elser of the Delphis Association, an Israeli NGO dedicated to research and conservation of marine mammals.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2021 defined the sperm whale population in the Mediterranean Sea as an endangered species, according to the Nature and Parks Authority.
The Mediterranean population numbers between 250 and 2,500 individuals and is in decline, according to the latest estimate.
Aviad Scheinin, director of the Dolphin and Sea Center at Delphis and head of the apex predators division at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, was quoted as saying that, “The sperm whale population in the Mediterranean is different and genetically isolated from the sperm whales living in the Atlantic Ocean. It even has its own unique dialect—a sequence of clicking sounds that is characteristic only of them.”
The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales, as well as the largest toothed predator.
Also on Tuesday, a leatherback sea turtle, one of the largest turtle species on earth, washed ashore on Hof HaTzuk (“Cliff Beach”) in Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv.
The carcass was found in an advanced state of decomposition with several plastic items on it, according to Ynet.
Yaniv Levy, director of the Sea Turtle Rescue Center at the Nature and Parks Authority, was quoted in the report as saying, “This is a leatherback sea turtle, an enormous marine reptile that is critically endangered worldwide. Leatherback sea turtles do not reproduce in the Mediterranean Sea and reach our region from the Atlantic Ocean. Based on the findings, the cause of death appears to be entanglement in ropes that are an integral part of fishing equipment, most likely hook-and-line fishing gear.”
He added that the most common cause of death among this species is blockage of the digestive system from ingesting plastic bags and other plastics, followed by entanglement in fishing equipment.
