Sotiris, the young whale that was initially spotted in Alimos and moved the nation, did not make it.
As announced by the Greek Ministry of Environment, the young ram whale (Ziphius cavirostris), which had appeared last Saturday 29 January in the shallows of Selenia Bay in Salamina after successive sightings in the past period on the coast of Attica, she was found dead this morning by the Port Authority of Salamina off the coast of the Kynosoura peninsula on the eastern side of the island.
A Coast Guard boat, which has been patrolling around the island of Salamina for the last 24 hours in coordination with the political leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy for the monitoring and possible recapture of the whale, spotted the marine mammal at this particular spot.
According to the same announcement, immediately, as required by the relevant protocols, a team of veterinarians from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) as well as expert scientists were mobilized for the appropriate transportation of the animal to a safe place, in cooperation with the Municipality of Salamina, in order to carry out a necropsy and take the necessary biological samples for specialised laboratory tests, based on the relevant circular of the Animal Health Department of the Ministry of Rural Development on the actions to be taken in cases of dead wild aquatic animals. The findings will make it possible to detect any other pathological problems, in addition to those already clinically identified and laboratory confirmed in the previous days.
In the framework of the One Health doctrine, the investigation will also examine the presence of any diseases of relevance to both animal and public health, in accordance with international protocols and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines.
The necropsy is supervised by Professor Natassa Komninou, Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, who is an institutional member of the Scientific Committee for the support of the operation of the nationally coordinated network for the monitoring of marine fauna extinctions, which was established by the Ministry of Environment and consists of representatives of the Ministries of Environment, Rural Development, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (ELKETHE) and the thematic environmental organisations, ARION, ARCHELON, MOM and Pelagos.
Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, George Amyras said: "Despite the superhuman efforts made since last Friday by the Coast Guard and Navy divers as well as the specialized veterinarians, nurses and volunteers, under the scientific guidance of Professor Ms Komninos, to keep the injured and weak mammal alive, unfortunately the young whale did not make it. We knew from the first clinical and blood tests carried out on the whale that the results were not encouraging, but we did everything humanly possible to save it."
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