In the framework of its weekly monitoring covering the coastline of Bizerte (Tunisia) to assess cetacean stranding, the “Association Tunisienne de Taxonomie” (ATUTAX) was informed by local authorities on Sunday 23-02-2014 about the stranding of an infrequent marine mammal individual.

Specialists of ATUTAX identified the species as an adult of long-finned pilot whale Globicephala melas reaching 5.22m. No apparent injuries or scars were detected on the carcass, which lead to the hypothesis of a normal mortality. Samples were collected to perform future studies.

This event is the second during the last three years in the Northern Tunisia which may be considered a good reason to focus cetacean monitoring in this area.

Source: Mehdi Aïssa