Many species of whales are threatened - some are even extinct - often because of human affection. But on the 9th of May something happened that made scientists scratch their heads in confusion. A gray whale was found in the Mediterranean Sea, outside the coast of Israel. There were once three different populations of gray whales in the world, but the one in the Atlantic Ocean was thought to be extinct. It disappeared more than 300 years ago (probably because of whaling) and has not been spotted in those waters since then – until now.

Experts from the Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center (IMMRAC) went out on Sunday to take pictures of the unidentified underwater creature. The photos prove the unexpected - a gray whale is found.

Those gentle giants can reach a length of 15 meters and weight up to 30 tones. Annually they migrate between the northern, cold, feeding grounds and the southern, warm, breading grounds (a distance of about 20.000 kilometres a year). Though, this is the first time that a gray whale is spotted in those waters since the 1700 century. Why this individual has made its way to the Mediterranean Sea is not clear. Especially as the closest population of the same specie is still thousands of kilometres away, in the Pacific Ocean.

“It is unbelievable” says Tom Arnbom at the World Wildlife Found (WWF). “No whale scientist had ever expected to find a gray whale in the Mediterranean Sea … It is not likely that it swam down along the South American coast and then up to the South Atlantic Ocean. My guess is that it has come from the Canadian Arctic. That is the shortest way.”

Maybe this gray whale has come as an affect of reduced Arctic ice and/or as a sign of recolonisation. It would be amazing to get them back in our waters again! Something very special has happened; “It is maybe not as weird as finding a living dinosaur, but not far from it”, says Arnbom.

source: svd.se, sydsvenskan.se, sr.se

photo: IMMRAC