Posted on 05/11/2010 8:51:49 PM PDT by OldDeckHand
JERUSALEM (AFP) - – The appearance of a grey whale off the coast of Israel has stunned scientists, in what was thought to be the first time the giant mammal has been seen outside the Pacific in several hundred years.
The whale, which was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel on Saturday, is believed to have travelled thousands of miles from the north Pacific after losing its way in search of food.
"It's an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale sightings ever," said Dr Aviad Scheinin, chairman of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center which identified the creature.
A population of grey whales once inhabited the north Atlantic but became extinct in the 17th or 18th centuries and has not been seen there since.
The remaining colonies live in the western and eastern sectors of the north Pacific.
"What has amazed the entire marine mammal research community is there haven't been any grey whales in the Atlantic since the 18th century," he said. Scheinin said the creature, a mature whale measuring some 12 metres (39 feet) and weighing around 20 tonnes, probably reached the Atlantic through the Northwest Passage, an Arctic sea route that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and is normally covered with ice.
(Excerpt) Read more at sg.news.yahoo.com ...
i love how they try and spin global warming into it as the only way a whale could have made it there. maybe it swam full south and back up along africa. it could happen :)
It also could have swam right through the Suez canal. I've been through that canal, there are no locks. It is one level from start to finish, with absolutely no gates or locks of any kind. IMHO, a whale - if he was curious enough - could easily make that journey and if he was a younger whale, probably without detection.
Gray Whale Spotted on Wrong Side of World... (Israel)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2511302/posts
also relevant:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2510780/posts?page=15#15
Thanks LibertyRocks.
I read the other day that the word in Hebrew is the same word that is used to describe all things that live in the sea. I believe the word is “dag” (IIRC)?
No problem. :)
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