First record of Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei, Olsen, 1913) in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract

The deviation of whales towards the beaches is one of the known phenomena around the world but it is one of the few and rare phenomena in the southeastern Mediterranean off Egypt, so the occurrence of this phenomenon requires detailed studies to find out the type of delinquent whale as well as the reasons for its attraction towards the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. In the current study, several methods were used to determine the type of delinquent whale, such as 1) morphometric measurements, 2) the characterization of the phenotype, 3) the analysis of mtDNA, and 4) analyzing the biochemical content of whale samples to try to determine its health condition. Furthermore, the physical, chemical and productive properties of water area have been studied. The species of the whale was identified as Balaenoptera brydei and the results showed that whale mortality due to hunger or drift was excluded due to its high protein content, which reinforced the assumption of the tendency of the whale in question to commit suicide to lose its natural environment and peers. In general, the presence of whales in the southeastern Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast is a phenomenon that needs further studies due to it is increased in recent decades.