The Minke Refugee!

An interesting news story today was about a poor Minke (pronounced Minkie) whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) that seems to have ended up some 1600 kilometres from the ocean up a river in the Amazon basin.

Personally, I think the poor thing got hopelessly lost and has been unable to find his/her way back to the ocean.

Of course I could be wrong.

Japanese whalers have been working hard to find capture and kill these whales for their 'scientific research program.'

Any sophisticated mammal with a high degree of intelligence facing a devastating form of genocide would most likely be searching for a place to go and claim refugee status.

The question is will any one understand the call for sanctuary?

I have no idea if anyone has actually learned enough whale to act as an interpreter!