Environmental Graffiti

The minke whale that was lost deep in the Amazon river system has died.

Residents spotted the whale carcass in the river on Tuesday. The body was found some two hours by boat from the city of Santarem. Environmentalists and biologists had hoped to return the whale to the sea.

The whale was first spotted in the Tapajos river last week. At one point, the whale had to be freed from a sandbar by local villagers and environmentalists. Scientists have speculated that the 18 foot, 12 ton whale became confused by the many smaller rivers that feed the Amazon. Fabia Luna, a biologist with the Brazilian government, said: “We won’t know for sure what caused its death until we get back the results from the lab.”

Source: Reuters

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