Fin whale in the Biševo Channel
A fascinating video of a group of whales, recently published by Mr. Stefan Torres, attracted great public interest. Our curator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Draško Holcer explains which species it is and where whales in the Adriatic come from.
“Fin whales in the Adriatic are not animals that have strayed, that follow ships, or that come for some similar reason. These are animals for which the Adriatic is part of their normal habitat and where they appear during feeding periods,” said Holcer.
“This is a species that uses the entire Mediterranean area. They feed there, move through it in search of food and appear at different times of the year in areas where their food is present. They mostly enter the Adriatic in spring because a larger quantity of small planktonic crustaceans, which they feed on, appears in the Jabuka Pit area. That is the time when we most often record their presence in the Adriatic,” said Holcer.
He adds that people perceive this species as something very special, specific and unusual because these animals mostly stay in the open sea and are not visible to us from land, in channels and similar areas.
The fin whale is the second-largest animal on Earth. Holcer says that it is an endangered species in the Mediterranean Sea.
“The estimated number of adult individuals is only slightly above 1,700, so their number is extremely small,” Holcer states.
He also revealed that this species has one specific feature in the Mediterranean Sea:
“Although the fin whale is a species that inhabits all seas and oceans of the world, individuals in the Mediterranean Sea are genetically different from their closest relatives in the Atlantic. Therefore, it can be said that they are purely Mediterranean animals. They do not migrate outside this area.”
As the biggest problem for fin whales in the Mediterranean, he highlights the fact that it is one of the busiest maritime areas in the world.
“There is enormous ship traffic there. One of the most common causes of death for these animals is collisions with ships. More than 20 percent of dead animals stranded on the coasts of France died precisely because of collisions with vessels. A few years ago, we also had a case where we saw two whales near Lošinj, one of which had cuts on its back caused by a large propeller,” Holcer warned.