Humpback Whale Washed Ashore on Bering Island

VLADIVOSTOK. May 24. VOSTOK-MEDIA – A humpback whale, which is listed in the Red Book of endangered species of the Russian Federation, was washed ashore on Bering Island (Commander Islands).

“This is a rare species of whale. It is an adult male,” a spokesman for the Komandorsky State Nature Reserve said. “Research officers at the Komandorsky State Reserve took a sample of tissue of the animal for laboratory analysis.”

The Komandorsky reserve spokesman said that the cause of death of the marine mammal will be determined after histologic and genetic tests of the tissue samples. This is the first time a whale has been brought ashore this year. In 2009, the remains of five whales were found on shores of the Commander Islands, Novosti daily wrote.

The humpback whale is a baleen whale, one of the rorqual species. The humpback whale gets its name from fact that the dorsal fin sits on a large “hump” on the back.

The average length of adult males is 13.5 meters, an average female – 14.5 meters. The largest whales of these species reach 18 meters in length. Such gigantic whales are rare, though. They weigh approximately 30 tons. The heaviest whale ever recorded weighed 48 tons.