The humpback whale that recently appeared off the Belgian and Dutch coasts now swims in the Western Scheldt near Ritthem in Zeeland. A spokesperson for the SOS Dolphin Foundation reported this on Friday. According to the spokeswoman, images show that the animal is very skinny and has many abnormalities in the skin.
Door: NU.nl/ANPThe animal was sighted off the Zeeland coast on Tuesday. Beach pavilion DOK 14 in Cadzand, near the border with Belgium, posted images of the great fin whale on its social media channels.
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Since the end of May until earlier this week, a humpback whale has been observed daily between the Belgian seaside resorts of Knokke and Zeebrugge, according to the Belgian Nature Point. According to the spokesperson for SOS Dolfijn, the animal that is now swimming in the Western Scheldt is the same humpback whale.
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Humpback whales have been seen more often in Dutch waters since the beginning of this century. Very occasionally in the Western Scheldt, according to the spokesperson. That the animal is now seen in the Western Scheldt is, according to her, “pretty special”.
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SOS Dolphin keeps an extra eye on humpback whale
The animal swims and jumps, the spokesman said. “That’s nice. You need energy and strength for that. But it can also be a sign that the humpback is suffering from bad skin. Jumping can be communication, but they can also jump because they have parasites and want to get rid of them. .”
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What caused the skin problems is unclear, she says. “We see that the humpback has many scars from the dorsal fin to the tail blade. We see scratches, dents. We don’t know what caused that. Maybe the humpback swam against something or the fin whale got caught in something and got out of it. to liberate.”
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SOS Dolphin now keeps an extra eye on the animal. “I can’t do anything. It’s a 10 meter whale. I can’t catch a humpback whale from the Western Scheldt and put it in a bath. So we keep an eye on the animal, so that we are ready to help if there are problems.”
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