The sick and injured young whale that recently stranded at a beach of Athens Riviera was found dead on Wednesday, the Environment Ministry announced.
The small cetacean mammal was found in the shallow waters of Selinia Bay in the east of the island of Salamina in the Saronic Gulf by a boat of the Greek Coast Guard.
As provided by the relevant protocols, a team of veterinarians has been mobilized to organize the safe transport of the dead mammal to specific facilities so that an autopsy can take place.
Samples of biological material are also to be taken to determine whether the mammal next to the clinical findings while it was alive was suffering also by diseases concerning the animal and human health.
The sick and injured whale was stranded at the Palaio Faliro beach in south Athens on Friday morning, January 28. A huge rescue operation with divers, vets and volunteers was launched. The mammal was administered medicines and fluids, and was monitored over the night. The next morning taken to deeper waters and could swim away.
Deputy Environment Minister Giorgos Amyras said on Wednesday, that “despite the superhuman efforts to keep the injured and weak mammal alive, the young whale did not make it.” He added “we knew from the first clinical and blood examinations that the results were not encouraging”
Some NGO and research centers for the marine life, criticized the “medicine handling” of the case, saying that several mistakes were made, with one of them, for example, being the administration of fluids for a pet to a 2-tonne-heavy animal.
Institute of Marine Conservation Archipelagos stressed that the case drew attention to the absence of state mechanism for the protection of need for the protection of rare marine mammals.
Speaking to cycladesopen.gr, hydro-biologist and research director of Archipelagos, Anastasia Miliou said that “there are dozens of injured stranded marine animals in the Greek seas every month. This case acquainted publicity because the mammal stranded at a beach of the Saronic, in Athens.”
Miliou stressed the need for the creation of a refuge for injured mammals in Greece.
