Mammal Study publish this investigation article

June 1^st, 2015

At least six mysticete species have been reported to date in the Mediterranean Sea (Notarbartolo di Sciara and Birkun 2010). The fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus, is the only mysticete species with a stable population in the Mediterranean Sea, which differs genetically from Atlantic populations (Giménez et al. 2013 and references therein). Other mysticete species have been previously recorded as either sighted or stranded in this area (Notarbartolo di Sciara and Birkun 2010). The humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, and the common minke whale, B. acutorostrata, are considered rare visitors to the Mediterranean, with less than a one sighting or stranded record per species, per year (IUCN 2012). The sei whale, B. borealis, the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, and the gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, are less common and considered to be vagrant species in the Mediterranean Sea (Notarbartolo di Sciara and Birkun 2010). A few individuals of these species have been reported in the western Mediterranean, and they presumably came from North Atlantic populations which entered the Mediterranean waters via the Strait of Gibraltar (IUCN 2012).

Fraija-Fernandez N., Crespo JL., Domenech F., Míguez-Lozano R., Palacios-Abella JF., Rodriguez-Gonzalez A., Villar-Torres M. and Gozalbes P.

First Stranding Event of a Common Minke Whale Calf, Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804, Reported in Spanish Mediterranean Waters

	Marine Zoology Unit. Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology. Universitat de València (UV).
	Oceanogràfic. Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. Generalitat Valenciana.
	Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).