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Pygmy Blue Whale Spotted For The 1st Time off Egypt's Red Sea Coast

"The pygmy blue whale's average length is 24 meters and can weigh up to 143 tons," according to the Environment Ministry's statement.

Staff Writer

Egypt's Environment Ministry announced earlier today that a pygmy blue whale has been spotted making its way through the Red Sea waters for the first time ever. The Environment Minister, Khaled Fahmy, promptly ordered the ministry's field teams in Southern Sinai to closely monitor the whale's movements and document them, Al Mal News reports.

The ministry's statement further clarified that the pygmy blue whale is a smaller subspecies of the famous blue whale, one of the biggest creatures alive. The pygmy blue whale average length is 24 meters and can weigh up to 143 tons.

The spotted creature has been listed as an endangered species since 1996 due to the rising number of illegal hunting cases which decreased its numbers in the world's oceans to somewhere between 5000 and 12000 in 2002, according to the ministry's statement.

Such whales don't impose a threat nor are they known to attack humans, however, the ministry has called upon citizens to maintain a safe distance if they do spot the pygmy blue whale, and further assured that a specialised team from the ministry is now attempting to understand the reasons which made the creature appear in the Red Sea for the first time in recorded history.

However the ministry said that it's most probable that the maritime giant has simply taken a wrong route on its way to the northern hemisphere, where blue whales are known to spend summer seasons.

Check out the video below.

Image courtesy of Egyptian Ministry of Environment.