During the next two days, researchers from the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores in a joint action with technicians from the Faial Natural Park of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea will perform the autopsy of a sperm whale washed ashore dead at the entrance of the Pico-Faial Channel and the collection of samples for scientific studies.
It is natural that this work will result in the release of intense, unpleasant smells, but they do not pose any hazard to public health. In order to ensure the normal course of the activities, the area surrounding the whale will be limited and, therefore, trespassing is unadvisable.
The animal in question is eight meters long, weighing about 20 tonnes and belongs to the Physeter macrocephalus species. Scientific research will collect information about bacterial contamination and tissue degradation in marine environments.
The transportation of the sperm whale is being carried out by the Network for Washed up Cetaceans of the Azores, coordinated by the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea. In this case, the Network will also count on the collaboration with the Port Administration of “Ilhas do Triângulo” (Triangle Islands) and Western Group (APTO), which transported the animal to the place where the test will conducted, and the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry, through the Regional Directorate for Forest Resources, which provided heavy machinery to mobilise the sperm whale on land.