“Fluker is the ambassador of the whales of the Mediterranean and their fate. This is the sad statement made by Alexis Rosenfeld; an underwater photo-reporter who was able to photograph the fin whale at the beginning of July at the end of its life. “It was skin on bones and was covered with parasites that took advantage of its weakened state. It was swimming with difficulty and breathing about once a minute,” he says.
Fluker has been known for years by scientists in the Mediterranean. He has often been spotted in the marine sanctuary of Pelagos, a protected area between Italy, France, and Monaco where about 1,300 fin whales live, according to WWF. The animal has long been particularly recognizable by its half-amputated fluke fin lost due to a collision with a ship.
Fluker lost the last half of its caudal fin a year ago. “The vets think it was an abandoned cable or net that wrapped itself around his fin and acted like a tourniquet,” explains Denis Ody. “When we found out she lost the other half of her fin last August, we were sure she was going to die in the coming weeks. We were very surprised to see her again this year. But for the past year, she has been living on her reserves because she can’t feed herself,” he says.
The fin whale, the second largest animal in the world after the blue whale; uses its tail to propel itself and feed, among other things, on krill (small shrimp) by filtering the water when it swims.
“My original job is to photograph the beautiful, underwater. That’s always been my goal. But for the past few years, I have been photographing endangered corals and warning about invasive fish that are destroying ecosystems. It’s dramatic,” sighs Alexis Rosenfeld. A sadness shared by Denis Ody: “Approaching these animals is an emotion that is always renewed. They are majestic beings, in size and elegance. When you no longer have an attachment because it’s an animal that you know, seeing it like that is to cry”. The two men say they are angry at human action. “Especially since we already know the solutions! ” gets annoyed Alexis Rosenfeld.
“This tragic fate sums up everything we expose our roommates on planet Earth to,” concludes Denis Ody. There is perhaps one way to console ourselves with Fluker’s fate; “When large cetaceans die, they strand themselves at a depth of almost 1,000 meters and create an oasis of life that can last for more than a century,” says Denis Ody.
Source: rfi
