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03/14: Cetacean stranding in the Tunisian coasts

Cetacean stranding in Bizerte

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