Mystery as Whale Struggling With Bent Spine Goes Off Radar

A whale with a bend in its spine has disappeared, and scientists do not know if it is still alive.

The fin whale, which has a severe case of scoliosis, was spotted on March 6 swimming off the coast of Valencia in Spain by the Oceanogràfic Foundation. At the time of the sighting, a skipper working on a boat thought at first the whale was entangled in fishing gear because of the difficulty it had swimming, the foundation said on a Facebook post.

The foundation sent biologists to the scene, who realized it was not entangled at all but was suffering from a bent spine. Drone footage (below) captured by the foundation shows the whale swimming slowly through the water. Biologists said the scoliosis was of "unknown origin" and had "altered his natural anatomy."

Scoliosis is not common in whales, but it has been observed before. The condition can be extremely painful and likely affects the whales' ability to swim and feed.

A foundation spokesperson told Newsweek: "They tried to put a locator on it, but they couldn't and the whale submerged offshore. We do not have any further information about this, so we do not know if the whale survived."

When the whale was first spotted, scientists thought it could appear again in the next few days because of its condition and the sheer difficulty it had swimming. But so far it has not been spotted. Placing a tracker on the whale appeared to be nearly impossible, given its sheer size.

Fin whales are the second-largest whale species, after the blue whale, which is the biggest animal living on Earth. Fin whales are an endangered species, and there are thought to be only around 100,000 left in the world.

This is not the only whale that has been spotted suffering recently. In December, a paralyzed humpback whale was spotted swimming off the coast of Maui, Hawaii.

The humpback had a severe break in its spine from a fishing injury. The whale was also spotted a few months earlier, in September, swimming off the coast of Canada.

Researchers realized that, despite its injury, the whale had migrated on its usual journey of 3,000 miles. But this left the whale severely emaciated and in poor condition. Scientists were sure that the journey would be her last.

Although there was no confirmation of the whale's death, scientists were sure that it would die shortly after making the journey.

Whales with this type of condition are extremely difficult to help. Often they are swimming in areas that are too remote for rescuers to access.

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