Dolphin Zafar, which followed ship to Amsterdam, is found dead

DutchNews, May 13, 2020

Dolphin Zafar in the port of Amsterdam . Photo: Jeroen Hoekendijk

The dolphin which followed a Dutch sailing boat into Amsterdam harbour before being led back to sea has been found dead on the beach at Wijk aan Zee. 

The dead animal, known as Zafar, was found by a man out walking his dog lying in the surf. 

The body has been taken to Utrecht University for a post mortem, animal welfare group SOS Dolfijn said. The animal appears to have died fairly recently and its tail is missing, the organisation said. 

The bottlenosed dolphin was healthy when it returned to the sea and had been catching fish, a spokesman told broadcaster NOS. 

The dolphin was given its name after it was first spotted on the coast of France in 2018 where it was observed to interact with divers.

Het is gelukt!
De dolfijn is de sluis van IJmuiden doorgezwommen en begeleidt richting zee. Tussen de pieren in de havenmonding bleef de dolfijn nog wat rondhangen bij boeien. Maar vanaf dat punt is de toegang naar zee vrij voor het dier. pic.twitter.com/nb8DiWxGE7

— SOSDolfijn (@SOSDolfijn) May 3, 2020

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Dolphin spotted in port of Amsterdam is reluctant to leave

Amsterdam port’s dolphin follows sailing ship back to the sea

Dolphin spotted in port of Amsterdam is reluctant to leave

DutchNews, May 3, 2020

A lone dolphin has followed a sailing boat carrying a cargo of fair trade coffee and rum from the French coast to Amsterdam’s port and seems reluctant to leave the ship, experts said on Sunday. 

The animal is fit and healthy but rescue organisation SOS Dolfijn said the brackish water is not good for the animal and it may not be able to find enough food. 

‘The animal seems to have developed a close connection with the ship and stayed swimming with it through the sluice gates and now it is in the port,’ said spokesman Eligius Everaarts. 

Attempts to lure the animal back to the open sea are being hindered by the fact that it will have to swim though the sluices at IJmuiden, which means the rescue operation can only happen when the gates are open. 

SOS Dolfijn tried to make the animal follow their boat but after a while it turned and went back to the ship. The schooner which it followed cannot be used to guide the animal back because it must be unloaded first. 

Catching the animal is not option either, the organisation said, because the port is a large area and the manoeuvre could put the animal’s life in danger. 

‘It may make it out on its own bit that will depend on the sluices,’ a spokesperson for the organisation said. 

The adult bottle nose dolphin has been identified as Zafar, a dolphin which has been spotted on the coast of France in 2018 where it was observed to interact with divers. 

The organisation said it will continue to monitor the situation. 

Update Sunday evening: According to broadcaster NOS, the dolphin was successfully encouraged to return to the sea on Sunday afternoon.

The dolphin next to the sailing ship on his way back to the ocean. Photo: Olaf Kraak ANP

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Amsterdam port’s dolphin follows sailing ship back to the sea

Off the hook: Manta ray asks divers for helping hand

Yahoo – AFP, July 15, 2019

Manta rays are considered one of the most intelligent underwater creatures and are
common off parts of the west coast of AustraliaManta rays are considered one of
the most intelligent underwater creatures and are common off parts of the west
coast of Australia (AFP Photo/VALERIE MACON)

Sydney (AFP) - A giant manta ray with several fishing hooks caught below its eye appeared to ask two nearby divers for help in removing them, and then waited patiently for them to do so.

Underwater photographer Jake Wilton was diving off Australia's west coast when the three-metre wide animal moved toward him, footage showed.

"I'm often guiding snorkelers in the area and it's as if she recognised me and was trusting me to help her," Wilton said in a statement Monday.

"She got closer and closer and then started unfurling to present the eye to me."

Incredible footage shows Wilton repeatedly diving down toward the animal and removing the hooks, before the manta ray departs after the final impediment is dislodged.

"She never moved. I'm sure that manta knew that Jake was trying to get the hooks out," said marine biologist and fellow diver Monty Hall.

Manta rays are considered one of the most intelligent underwater creatures and are common off parts of the west coast of Australia.

The ocean giants can grow up to seven meters wide and live for about 50 years.

They don't have the sharp barb of a stingray and are harmless to humans.

VIDEO: Off the hook! A giant manta ray with several fishing hooks caught below its eye appeared to ask two nearby divers for help in removing them, and then waited patiently for them to do so https://t.co/KJCbjjnjHC pic.twitter.com/Hm0IBwDViR

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 15 juli 2019

'Russian' whale leads to espionage speculations in Norway

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre-Henry DESHAYES, May 3, 2019

The origin of the whale remains unknown more than a week after it was first spotted
(AFP Photo/Jorgen REE WIIG)

Oslo (AFP) - A spy, a far away visitor or a fugitive on the run? A mysterious Beluga whale, caught wearing a suspicious harness, has ignited the imaginations of Norwegians who have yet to receive answers.

The whale has been delighting locals in the area of Finnmark in the far north of Norway for the last week.

But more than a week after it was first spotted by fishermen in the Arctic waters off the coast of northern Norway its origin remains unknown.

When Jorgen Ree Wiig, a marine biologist working with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries tracked down the mammal with the help of a fisherman and two colleagues on April 26, they managed to remove an obviously man-made harness attached to it.

The harness had a mount suited for an action camera and the text "Equipment St. Petersburg" printed on the plastic clasps.

Wiig told AFP on Friday he believed the whale could have come from neighbouring Russia, where he believed it might have escaped an enclosure.

"The whale is so calm around humans and goes up to boats so it seems to have been accustomed to humans," Wiig said.

Hidden agenda?

Another theory supported by Wiig was that the whale could have been trained by the Russian navy as "they have been known to do so before."

Its ease with humans, the markings on the harness together with reports of the Russian Navy training Beluga whales has led many Norwegians to speculate that it could be a "Russian spy."

Moscow has not issued any official reaction but an officer quoted by the media has mocked the idea, arguing that the military would not be stupid enough to "leave their phone number" on an animal trained for clandestine activities.

The Barents Sea is a strategic geopolitical area where Western and Russian submarine movements are monitored.

It is also the gateway to the Northern Route that shortens maritime routes between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Dmitry Glazov, a scientist working at the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Russian news agency Interfax that the Russian Navy had programmes involving whales and that they were in part operating out of Murmansk.

"It is a fact that the military has these animals. Among other things, they used them during the Sochi Olympics," Glazov said Monday.

There are also private travel agents around Murmansk advertising tours that involve meeting or diving with Belugas kept in enclosures in the White Sea south of the Kola peninsula.

AFP has reached out to two of these agents but has been unable to get a response, as it was a public holiday in the country.

The harness itself has been transferred to the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), but Martin Bernsen, communications officer at PST, said it was unclear whether they would find anything.

"We must admit that examining technical equipment attached to whales is not a daily occurrence for PST," he told AFP.

"The whale is not a suspect in our investigation, for now," he added.

Possible Western connection

Another theory on the origin of the whale is that the "Equipment St. Petersburg," since it's written in English, might refer to the St. Petersburg in the US state of Florida, where there are water parks with Beluga whales, such as Seaworld in Orlando.

According to Jorgen Ree Wiig it wouldn't be inconceivable for the whale to have travelled from there.

"They can swim quite far and especially young males have been known to travel very far," Wiig said.

This hypothesis is supported by videos showing local residents throwing plastic rings in the water which the whale brings back.

Its path would then be reminiscent to that of the famous killer whale Keiko, star of the film "Free Willy" (1993), who once released into the wild outside Iceland swam to the coastal waters of Norway.

No water park has however yet reported the disappearance of a Beluga whale.

Wherever it's from, the whale has become quite the celebrity, and a poll to name it was conducted online by Norwegian broadcaster NRK and gathered 25,000 votes.

Thirty percent of the votes went to the name "Hvaldimir", a pun on the word whale in Norwegian and a nod to its alleged association to Russia.

Beluga whales, which can reach a size of 6 metres and live to between 40 and 60 years of age generally habitate the icy waters around Greenland and northern Norway and Russia.

A sociable species related to dolphins, it travels in pods and the observation of an isolated individual is rare.

Giant squid makes rare appearance in Japanese port

Yahoo  - AFP,  December 30, 2015

A giant squid, four metres in length, was discovered by fishermen on December 24,
2015 at a port in the city of Toyama on Japan's northwestern coast (AFP
Photo/Akinobu Kimura)

Tokyo (Japan) (AFP) - A giant squid that wandered into a Japanese port has been guided back out to sea almost a week after it was spotted, giving enthusiasts and experts a rare glimpse of the mysterious creature.

The massive invertebrate, four metres (13 feet) in length, was discovered by fishermen on December 24 at a port in the city of Toyama on Japan's northwestern coast.

It was later guided by a diver into deeper seas.

"Its suckers were so strong that I felt some pain," Akinobu Kimura, who runs a dive shop in Toyama, said on TV Asahi.

"Even though I was trying to let it escape (from the port), it wrapped around my body and clung to my arm."

A curator at the local Uozu Aquarium who visited the port and took underwater photos of the squid was surprised at its size.

"It was unexpectedly beautiful, its body glowing red," he said in footage shown on broadcaster TBS.

Giant squids are sometimes caught in Japanese fishing nets, though filming a live one is rare.

The giant squid, "Architeuthis" to scientists, is sometimes described as one of the last mysteries of the ocean, being part of a world so hostile to humans that it has been little explored.

Japon: un calamar géant observé dans un port https://t.co/RKdNOsM3yG #AFP pic.twitter.com/OvCsWLb11g

— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) December 30, 2015