Nature & Environment
'Extremely Rare' Conjoined Gray Whales Spotted in Baja, California Lagoon [VIDEO]
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Jan 08, 2014 08:12 AM EST
A rare sighting has baffled the Mexico scientists. A pair of dead conjoined gray whale calves was discovered floating in a lagoon on the west coast of Mexico, making this the first documented case of conjoined twin gray whales.
The seven foot long deceased Siamese twin gray whales were seen ashore in Mexico's Laguna Ojo de Liebre, or Scammon's Lagoon, Sunday. The carcass has been retrieved for further studies.
Sighting of a conjoined whale is a rare case. Looking at the length of the carcass, Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society researcher, stated that the twins were underdeveloped. The researchers are still unclear of the status of mother and are curious to know whether the stillbirth of the twins led to an death of the mother or if she is still surviving, Source Discovery News.
Since the carcass was found in a Mexico lagoon, it is believed that the calves were gray whales because these whales travel to warm lagoons for reproductions every year. They arrive at the lagoons along Baja, California after covering a 6,000 mile journey from the Arctic waters. They nurse their calves born in the lagoon or during the journey for several weeks before heading back to the Bering and Chukchi seas, source Pete Thomas Outdoors.
National Natural Protected Areas Commission (CONANP) officials verified the discovery Monday.
Benito Bermudez a marine biologist and CONANP, said that the find was "exceptionally rare, without any precedent"
Several media reports state the conjoined twins were born between end of December and beginning of January. According to NOAA, the estimation of the Pacific gray whale population is nearly 21,000.
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First Posted: Jan 08, 2014 08:12 AM EST
A rare sighting has baffled the Mexico scientists. A pair of dead conjoined gray whale calves was discovered floating in a lagoon on the west coast of Mexico, making this the first documented case of conjoined twin gray whales.
The seven foot long deceased Siamese twin gray whales were seen ashore in Mexico's Laguna Ojo de Liebre, or Scammon's Lagoon, Sunday. The carcass has been retrieved for further studies.
Sighting of a conjoined whale is a rare case. Looking at the length of the carcass, Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society researcher, stated that the twins were underdeveloped. The researchers are still unclear of the status of mother and are curious to know whether the stillbirth of the twins led to an death of the mother or if she is still surviving, Source Discovery News.
Since the carcass was found in a Mexico lagoon, it is believed that the calves were gray whales because these whales travel to warm lagoons for reproductions every year. They arrive at the lagoons along Baja, California after covering a 6,000 mile journey from the Arctic waters. They nurse their calves born in the lagoon or during the journey for several weeks before heading back to the Bering and Chukchi seas, source Pete Thomas Outdoors.
National Natural Protected Areas Commission (CONANP) officials verified the discovery Monday.
Benito Bermudez a marine biologist and CONANP, said that the find was "exceptionally rare, without any precedent"
Several media reports state the conjoined twins were born between end of December and beginning of January. According to NOAA, the estimation of the Pacific gray whale population is nearly 21,000.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone