Overview
- The juvenile male, about 4.32 meters long and roughly one ton, stranded Tuesday evening on a central beach in San Clemente del Tuyú.
- Fundación Mundo Marino mounted a two-team nighttime response and repeatedly refloted the animal, which swam in circles and kept returning to shore.
- Operations were halted near 21:00 due to darkness and safety limits, and the whale was found dead the next morning close to the assistance site.
- The body was transferred to Mundo Marino’s rescue center, and samples were sent to the Veterinary Sciences Faculty at the National University of La Plata for testing.
- Preliminary findings indicate pneumonia and a high gastrointestinal parasite load; live strandings of this pelagic species are exceptional in Argentina, with only four cases recorded since 1987, and species confirmation and complementary analyses are pending.