Dead whales - Golfo de Penas (chilean Patagonia) - Please help!

[Ohnrie]

Dear Sailors,

recently there was a mass mortality of whales in the northern part of the Golfo de Penas / Golfo Tres Montes ( in the central Patagonian fjord system (Chile). (~46°/47° S ~ 75° 20').

A group of scientists went there to investigate the resasons behind this mass mortality.

More than 20 dead whales found beached in Chile - Business Insider

To get more information about this event it would be very helpful if sailors who have been in that region in previously or are going to go there could provide additional information, e.g. cooridinates and time of dead or living whale sightings, ideally with a photo.

In previous years, dead whales have been reported in Cono Slight ( 46°36'12.77"S 75°28'42.16"W) It would be great to know if there are dead whales in that fjord this year as well.

Any information about the dead whales are very much appreciated and can help to better understand the reasons of the mass mortality.

Thanks a lot! :-)

Henry

[El Pinguino]

Hola Henry,
Over the course of my 10 years in Patagonia I saw a fair number of whales, including a Ballena Azul mother and calf in Golfo Corcovado in February (photos) and lots of Humpbacks in and around Seno Pedro and Isla Carlos III ( and up as far as Faro Fairway ) especially around May. Also quite frequent sightings of solitary northbound whales in the canales between Faro Fairway and Cabo Raper... I think these may have been fin whales but not too sure.
However I never sighted any dead ones in all of that time, hope this helps,
Saludos,
El Ping aka Frank

[Don C L]

The article says these are Sei Whales, so if Wikipedia is a reliable source of info, the fact they are in a fjord is unusual: "The sei whale (/ˈseɪ/ or /ˈsaɪ/), Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the fourth-largest rorqual after the blue whale, the fin whale and the humpback whale.[9] It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters.[10] It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to winter in temperate and subtropical waters.[11]"

Hope we hear from someone down there!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Henry.

[Ohnrie]

Hello everyone!

Thanks a lot for your help, the pictures and the article. :-)

The work on the dead whales is still in progress.

To better work out, when the whales died it would also be great to know, if there were no dead whales in the area of the Golfo de Penas or the fjords adn bays within the region, e.g.Estero Cono, Estero Slight, Estero Newman, Bahia San Quintin?

Any advice can be helpful! And if you go in the area at any time in the future please keep an eye open for dead whales or even report if you could not see a dead whales. If possible please check out a couple of channels, bays (see above) for whales!

Your help is much appreciated and contributes to the understanding of the mass mortality. Thanks a lot!

Best regards,
Henry

[GordMay]

Massive 52-foot fin whale washes up on San Diego beach
➥ https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/ma...9709481d&ei=17