An orca was washed ashore at Cadzand beach in Zeeland and died on Sunday evening, despite the efforts of animal rescuers.
A few people noticed the 5.17 metre-long orca swimming on the beach on Saturday. After hours of trying to keep her wet with the local fire brigade, the animal savers couldn’t save her.
The orca was transported to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Utrecht after it died, according to the NOS.
What happened?
It is still unknown why the orca was swimming so close to the beach.
“The big question is, of course, what caused the orca to get stranded.” says researcher Lonneke IJsseldijk from the University of Utrecht.
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At first sight, this might be an orca on a day trip. They usually reside in the northern part of the North Sea – making the Netherlands some sort of Mediterranean tulip coast. They can travel over 100 kilometres a day, so it’s just a short swim for them.
In the following days, researchers will be studying the orca’s body to find out what happened. While the studies are still ongoing, it seems like the orca was washed ashore due to some sort of illness.
We imagine our 2000-kilo friend just couldn’t resist the temptation – which sadly proved fatal.
Rare visitor
It is very rare for an orca to wash up on the Dutch coast. The last time it happened was in 2010. This time the skeleton will eventually be kept and conserved by Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden.
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