Codamozza-Fluker: The Compelling Case of a Flukeless Fin Whale Traveling Throughout the Mediterranean Sea and the Need for Basin-Wide Conservation Efforts.

ABSTRACT: Human-caused injuries can have severe consequences for cetaceans, both for the well-being of individuals and the effects at the population level. Here, we report the first case of a live fin whale in the Mediterranean Sea with completely amputated flukes, a female who suffered two separated incidents: the first one before 1996, when she lost her left lobe, and the second one, in 2019, leading to the severing of the whole tail and finally to presumed death. "Codamozza-Fluker" was regularly sighted during summer in the North-Western Mediterranean for 24 years. Entanglement and collision were both hypothesized as potential causes of her injuries. Without flukes, she traveled at least 7000 km across the Mediterranean, despite severe emaciation. Sighting records allowed tracking her from Septem

SUBMITTER: Jahoda M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12094965 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature