Dear Marmam community: On behalf of my coauthor MSc Tulio Gutiérrez, I am very pleased to announce the publication of the short note Bolaños-Jiménez, J. and Gutiérrez, T. 2024. An Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) Live-Stranding in Venezuela: First Record for the Caribbean Sea. Aquatic Mammals, 50(2), 122-126, DOI https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.50.2.2024.122 https://www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/article/an-antarctic-minke-whale-balaenoptera-bonaerensis-live-stranding-in-venezuela-first-record-for-the-caribbean-sea/?fbclid=IwAR0C860lMdnAI22UHclZ3A7u6MIeQs_nxXAmFzxuRmhBkX6Fs8KEfgMLkE4
In the note, we report on the stranding of a male whale in the Ciénaga los Olivitos Wildlife Refuge in the southern Gulf of Venezuela on 18 March 1997. During three days in a row the fishers and Guardafaunas (fish and game wardens) conducted a dozen attempts to release the whale into deeper waters but the whale died. At the time (1997) the whale was erroneously identified as a Bryde´s whale but a new analysis (July 2023) of the original report and color pictures revealed the taxonomic determination. This is the first species record for Venezuela and the Caribbean sea. So far, there are only six available records of this species outside its primary range in Antarctic waters. This work is in respectful memory of the late fellow Guardafaunas Helímenes Perozo and Néstor Jiménez, who devoted their life to the protection of Venezuelan wildlife, specially the Ciénaga de los Olivitos Wildlife Refuge. A copy of the pdf will be available from my email address: bolanos.jime...@gmail.com
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