A fifteen-metre whale was washed up on the beach in Cala Millor on Saturday night. At around half ten, passers-by advised the emergency services that there was a whale that was bleeding profusely and having difficulty breathing. Specialist staff from Palma Aquarium went to the scene but could not save the whale, which was announced dead at four in the morning.
Local police and the Guardia Civil faced the difficult task of removing the whale. Lifting gear was unable to do so. Deborah Morrison, director of conservation at the aquarium, said that the female whale, still juvenile, weighed up to twelve tonnes. "The fact is that we don't know what has happened." Attention to the whale was left until yesterday. The area was cordoned off, tents were put up and a necropsy performed. There were two deep wounds from a propeller and the whale had lost a great deal of blood as a result.
It is unusual for a whale to go near boats with propellers. A possibility is that the whale was sick, and this is what the necropsy appears to indicate.
A revised procedure for removing the whale is due to take place today. Having examined organs and taken samples in order to determine how the whale became ill, the environment ministry will arrange the whale's burial in lime by the Palma Emaya municipal services agency. The skeleton will probably be kept for research purposes.