CORFU: The dramatic rescue of beached beak whales (PHOTOS)

Corfu beak whale

The rescue process of the third beak (Ziphius cavirostris), which started at 9:00 on Monday morning in the shallow waters on the rocky part of the coast of Agios Georgios on the southwestern side of Corfu, was successfully completed.

These are beak whales, more than 5 metres long, which were found 500 metres west of the place where Sunday's beak was found.

According to the testimonies of volunteer divers from the Hellenic Rescue Team (EMED) Corfu, who rushed to the spot, the marine mammal had good buoyancy and suffered no external injuries.

whale

With well-coordinated efforts and under the scientific guidance of the Professor of Veterinary Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Anastasia Komninou, the volunteer rescuers of EMED and locals who rushed to the spot and succeeded.

They managed to release the whale at noon and by 13:30 the whale was in deep waters and no longer visible from the shore.

The Corfu Port Authority, as well as volunteer boat owners, continue intensive patrols in the area in case of possible new beached whales.

Conservation NGO's WWF Greece and Arion posted photos of the two whales lying on the beach on Facebook.

For their part, WWF wrote on social media:

"Seismic surveys are currently being carried out in the area on behalf of ELPE, for exploration and extraction of oil and fossil gas.

"We call on the Greek government to suspend seismic investigations until the causes of these tragic events are fully established.

"See the recent announcement of WWF Hellas together with 14 other environmental organizations, with which we pointed out specific priorities for the protection of the wildlife of the Greek seas."

ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum) is one of the largest oil companies in the Balkans and with its roots dating to 1958 with the establishment of the first oil refinery in Greece.

READ MORE: UNBELIEVABLE: Passenger rescued on the Euroferry Olympia was also on the Norman Atlantic ferry fire.

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