Jerusalem – appearance of a grey whale off the coast of Israel has stunned scientists, in what was thought to be the first time the giant mammal has been seen outside the Pacific in several hundred years.
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The whale, which was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel on Saturday, is believed to have travelled thousands of miles from the north Pacific after losing its way in search of food.
“It’s an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale sightings ever,” said Dr Aviad Scheinin, chairman of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center which identified the creature.
A population of grey whales once inhabited the north Atlantic but became extinct in the 17th or 18th centuries and has not been seen there since.
The remaining colonies live in the western and eastern sectors of the north Pacific.
“What has amazed the entire marine mammal research community is there haven’t been any grey whales in the Atlantic since the 18th century,” he said. Scheinin said the creature, a mature whale measuring some 12 metres (39 feet) and weighing around 20 tonnes, probably reached the Atlantic through the Northwest Passage, an Arctic sea route that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and is normally covered with ice.
“Here you have an animal that is supposed to live in the Pacific and because the ice in the Arctic is melting, it managed to get through this corridor near the Bering Strait,” Scheinin told AFP.
The population which lives in the northeastern Pacific normally migrates southwards in around October, heading for warmer waters around the Gulf of California in a huge round trip of at least 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometres).
So when autumn came, this particular grey whale began travelling south, keeping the land mass on the left and heading for the Californian Gulf with the aim of “turning left” into the bay.
But instead, it reached Gibraltar and turned left into the Mediterranean and ended up off the shores of Israel, Scheinin said.
“The question now is: are we going to see the re-colonisation of the Atlantic?” he said. “This is very important ecologically because of the change of habitat. It emphasises the climate change that we are going through.”
So far, the whale seems to be happy enough in the waters off the shores of Israel, he said.
“It is pretty thin, which indicates the trip was quite harsh, but we think it can survive here,” he said. “Grey whales are very generalist in what they feed on.”
Now experts are mulling the possibility of tracking the whale by satellite — a costly operation that would need outside funding and expertise, Scheinin said.
“It’s quite a big operation to do this. If it stays around here for the next month, it’s worth having someone come in and do this professionally,” he said.
“It will be interesting to see where it goes and to follow it.”
Livyasan Shel Moshiach
livyoson? i’m getting hungry
Halevai
Maybe this is the livyoson returning
When is the shor habor coming?!
(thanks. I had to be first!)
Arctic melting and thats why it made it to the Mediterranean?! What Bull! These wackos will find a way to spout (sorry, mr whale) their trash any way they can.
I agree moshiac is on his way it will be any day
Lucky whale! I wish i could swim to the Holy land too!
Seeing a Grey Whale makes me blubber.
There MUST be a Midrash on this somewhere.
it doesn’t need to go to the arctic, it can get through the Magellan Straits in S America.
Glabal warming should send fish more NORTH not south!
The whale obviously has no sense of direction
quote from article “”The question now is: are we going to see the re-colonisation of the Atlantic?” he said. “This is very important ecologically because of the change of habitat. It emphasises the climate change that we are going through.””
Umm- how is ONE gray whale going to re-colonize the Atlantic. Last I counted, it took 2!
it can not be the livyoson because the whale is not a kosher fish it does not have scales we might be up to another story of yona in the fish (think about it he might spit out someone) or another yosef moker shabus
Nothing new. A whale came to Israel’s shore during the time of Tenaach. That is how the whole idea of ‘Liviyoson’ started. The Liviyoson is mentioned in Sefer Yeshaya and in Tehillem.
But in those times they did not know that there are hundreds of these creatures swimming around in other oceans, so they were very amazed at this huge creature.
Did it spit out any prophets?
To #19
In the time of Tenaach they didn’t know of any other whales, because they had no access to the Pacific Ocean, that’s why they were under the impression that there is only one, and they called it Liviyoson.
The Gemoroh even says that Hkb”h sets aside a time in the day to play with this playful big fish.
(reply to #19 ) glad we have someone here, that can argue with chazal
You all missed the point. The most important thing for this typical Israeli, is he made the shot for television!
On a side note note, the whale is not a fish, it is a mammal. The levaithan is a fish not a mammal, so our holy whale can not be the promised fish.
The mere fact that everything is changing is the Rotzon of Hashem. YOu can find nature’s proofs everywhere, ie the big bang. Nothing happens without the ok from Hashem