A dramatic moment unfolded when a fin broke the surface of the sea, causing panic among vacationers on a beach in Spain.
In a video recently published by the Daily Mail, the screams of local residents and tourists can be heard warning everyone to quickly get out of the water at La Antilla, Spain, while others rushed to the beach in fear of an impending shark attack.
The creature filmed was thrashing about among swimmers and children on paddleboards for over a minute before returning to the ocean. It appeared after a series of shark sightings near European beaches in recent weeks.
However, local police later clarified that the creature people saw was not a shark, but a Cuvier’s beaked whale, urging everyone to remain calm.
“It is not a shark, nor is it an orca. The creature that visited people seems to be a Cuvier’s beaked whale, a species known for its deep diving capabilities but is very sensitive to sonar. It may have become disoriented and was about to strand,” police stated.
Cuvier’s beaked whale, due to its deep diving habits and aversion to boats, remains a mystery for scientists. (Photo: Live Science).
The Cuvier’s beaked whale is one of the most frequently sighted species, despite its habitat in deep waters.
A Cuvier’s beaked whale can dive to depths of 3,000 meters for over 2 hours to hunt for squid, its preferred prey. No other marine mammal can do the same.
In a study by Dr. Quick published in the scientific journal Journal of Experimental Biology, a remarkable case was recorded of a Cuvier’s beaked whale diving for 3 hours and 42 minutes, breaking the previous record by over an hour.
Currently, the Cuvier’s beaked whale remains a creature full of mysteries. Scientists do not have much information about these animals as they spend most of their time underwater, rarely surfacing.
