Filenews 9 February 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
One of the rarest in appearances of a cetacean suddenly appeared in the morning in the shallows of the sea of Argaka. A zifios or beaked whale, lost its orientation and washed up on the shore, where fortunately it was immediately noticed by local residents.
Many of them rushed to the spot and carried the large whale deeper into the sea, to continue its journey, preventing the worst.
Zifios is a large cetacean, which is found in almost all the seas of the world. It has a length of 5.5 to 7 metres and a weight of 3-6 tons. It feeds on cephalopods, mainly large squid, and lives in seas with great depths.
The zifios avoids man and ships, as he is very shy. Due to this behaviour, but also the fact that it dives for 30-70 minutes to very great depths, the species is extremely difficult to study. Thus, most of the evidence for the zifios comes from corpses which have been stranded on the shore.
UPDATE
Four whales of the species "zifios" yesterday and another five today, are finally the account of the unprecedented appearance of large cetaceans on the coast of Cyprus. Scientists and officials of the Department of Fisheries speculate that the cause of the phenomenon is the great earthquake in Turkey and Syria that disoriented these cetaceans while they were off the coast of Cyprus.
According to the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research on Thursday, a total of four cetaceans of the species Zifios were recorded in the coastal area of Polis, Argakas, Gyalias and not just one, as it was initially known.
According to the DFMD, after a relevant briefing in the afternoon of that day by the President of the Community of Argakas, employees of the Department and the Veterinary Services immediately went to the area where a Zifios was found on a beach. The person was alive without external injuries and with the help of the Youth of Polis Chrysochous and residents of the communities of the area he was pushed back to the sea.
"We later received information that three more individuals of this species were found on nearby beaches," the statement said. " Two of them were alive and after many attempts in difficult conditions they were pushed back to the sea. The third was unfortunately already dead when it was located."
The rare appearance of this particular whale continued today. Another five individuals of the species were stranded in the same area, with unfortunately four of them already dead, while the fifth was helped to go back to the open sea.
As early as this morning, autopsies and sample collection are carried out for further laboratory tests from the dead cetaceans, in cooperation with the Veterinary Services.
Also, in the framework of the regional cooperation of the Department of Fisheries with the Greek Non-Governmental Organization ARION specialized in the protection of cetaceans, additional samples will be sent for further specialized tests. Through the examinations and the data that will be collected, an attempt will be made to confirm the causes and reasons that this mass stranding of zifias on the coast of Cyprus was observed, says the DFMD, which thanks the Youth of the Polis Chrysochous Region and the residents of the communities of the area for their help and contribution to the great effort made under difficult conditions to save the Zifias.
