Genoa – On Sunday afternoon, just over ten miles from the port of Genoa, four sperm whales were exceptionally sighted. “Being able to observe four individuals in a group, as happened yesterday, happens very rarely – explains Alessandro Verga, the biologist on board the Corsara motor ship who managed to observe the specimens – Sperm whales can remain in apnea for more than an hour, precisely because of this it is not so easy to be able to spot them. These mammals communicate with sounds; what for us are kilometers become short distances for them. It is, in the event that they see animals like these very specific, to keep a code of behavior. We must not disturb them, for this reason there is an accurate rule of conduct drawn up by researchers for the protection of marine mammals ”.

Sperm whales – spotted by the crew of the Motonave Corsara, the flagship of the Golfo Paradiso Whale Watching fleet led by Commander Franco Chiaschetti – alternating moments on the surface to breathe with more or less long apneas “during which – continues the biologist – they are in search of food. They feed on squid that manage to capture a great depth ”.

The animals usually settle on a depth of about 1,500 meters. Sperm whales length eighteen and “these specimens far exceeded ten – concludes Verga – Approaching the animals correctly, often, they themselves become curious by swimming towards the boat, just as happened today when one of the four turned on his side a few meters from the boat”.

Our region is located in the center of the Pelagos sanctuary: a triangle between the Principality of Monaco, Corsica and Tuscany that seeks a real paradise for the development of cetaceans. It is a marine area of ​​87,500 square kilometers that arises from an agreement between Italy, the Principality of Monaco and France for the protection of the marine mammals that frequent it.