Wildlife researchers have been left confused after discovering a dead humpback whale in the Amazon jungle – about 15 metres from the ocean.
Biologists found the mammal, believed to be a 12-month-old calf, in undergrowth on the Brazilian island of Marajo, at the mouth of the Amazon River.
In a post on social media, the Bicho D’agua Institute, an NGO working on Marajo Island, said it believed the animal was already dead before it washed ashore during strong tides and ended up amongst mangroves.
“The carcass was found about 15 metres from the beach,” the organisation wrote.
“(It was) was a puppy about a year old and eight metres long.”
Estimates put the weight of an 8m whale at about 16 tonnes.
A group of biologists from the organisation have since collected samples from the carcass to determine how the whale died.
It's not the first time a whale has been discovered inland in the Amazon forest.
A 5.5-metre-long minke whale washed up 1,600km from the Atlantic Ocean in 2007.
The whale was stuck on a sandbar but eventually managed to dislodge itself and swam to safety.
