Overview
- Rangers and scientists documented 26 stranded orcas in Bahía de San Sebastián after an initial find of two was followed by 24 more in a remote sector.
- Experts confirmed the animals belong to the rare subantarctic ecotype D, marking the third recorded mass stranding of this form worldwide and the first on Tierra del Fuego’s Atlantic coast.
- IMMA-CADIC teams performed necropsies on two specimens, recovered skeletal material, and collected skin and tissue samples for laboratory study.
- External evaluations reported no cuts, hematomas, net marks, or other signs consistent with ship strikes or fishing gear, and decomposition suggests a single stranding event.
- Investigators are weighing natural and human-linked hypotheses—including extreme tides and bay topography, acoustic disturbance, climate-related shifts, and contaminants—while noting surveillance gaps in remote southern waters.