Collision of a navy’s vessel with a whale in Puerto Madryn
Last July 12th, an Argentina Navy’s ship striked a Southern Right whale in the vicinity of the pier of Puerto Madryn.
July 14th, 2008. - Last Saturday July 12th, while it was setting out of the Piedrabuena pier in the city of Puerto Madryn, the destroyer ship of the Argentina Navy "ARA Heroin", which has two turbines of 60,000 HP each, collided with a specimen of Southern Right whale.
The animal, which according to data received was a juvenile, died because of the injuries. Its remains are being analyzed by the group of strandings response acting in the region.
Ship-strikes are a matter of concern to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which is working along with the International Maritime Organization (IMO). According to the database of the IWC, until April 2008, 763 records of ship- strikes have been reported in the world, 36 of which involve Southern Right whales. Next year, this event will be reported in the IWC meeting.
"More work should be done to try to avoid or reduce such collisions, especially in an area as important as Península Valdés" said Miguel Iñíguez, president of Fundación Cethus.
Despite of this unfortunate event, it is important to emphasize that this type of incident has begun to be reported.
