Park rangers from Puntarenas Province's Cabo Beach Marine Protected Area investigate the death of a humpback whale and her calf after they were stranded on the beach.

According to the National System of Conservation Areas, the organization in charge of the administration of Costa Rica's national parks and protected areas, several public and private organizations are collaborating to determine the causes of the mother whale's death and the subsequent death of her calf.

Specialists from the Nicoya Peninsula's Participatory Cetacean Monitoring Project informed park rangers about the death of an adult humpback whale, with its baby still alive and swimming near Cabuya Island in Puntarenas.

When park rangers arrived, they discovered the mother whale dead on the shore of a rocky area, but her baby was still alive. "The whale calf was very weak and had multiple wounds on its body," the researchers said in a statement.

 

"The calf was still in a breastfeeding period and it was not possible to rescue it, since it was almost impossible to keep it alive on its own, since the only eating habit it knows is breastfeeding by its mother," they said.

Following protocol for stranded whales, park rangers scheduled the arrival of a veterinarian from the National Animal Health Service to the location.