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Scientists have discovered 337 dead whales off the coast of Chile’s Patagonia, the sparsely populated southern region of South America. The discovery is the largest group of dead whales in recorded science.

Because of the remoteness of the region, scientists have only been able to assess the situation from aerial and satellite photography, but they identified 305 bodies and 32 skeletons.

Carolina Simon Gutstein of the Universidad de Chile and Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales in Santiago, Chile, told National Geographic that because the bodies are in advanced states of decay, scientists are as yet unable to accurately identify the species of whales. But according to her best estimates--based on their size and location-- she said they are probably sei whales.

According to National Geographic, sei whales are endangered and “large, bluish-gray baleen whales that filter the water to feed on krill and other small creatures. They can reach 64 feet (19.5 meters) long and 50 tons. Considered the fastest cetacean, sei whales can swim at speeds up to 31 miles (50 kilometers) per hour. Their lifespan is 50 to 70 years, and they are usually found in deep waters far from coastlines. The worldwide population is estimated at about 80,000.”

See the Wild, a conservation group, notes that the reasons for endangered status of whales are entanglement, commercial whaling, ship strikes and climate change.

Gutstein and her colleagues made the discovery earlier this year on 23 June, on observation flights sponsored by the National Geographic Society Waitt Grants Program, and have been analyzing the data since for publication in a scientific journal. However, the story leaked to Chilean press on Friday. Commenting on the importance of finding the cause for such a large scale death, Gutstein said “We are planning on going back there in the summer to try to study them more closely.”

Gustein and her team first began investigating the die-offs near Chile’s coast when in April, Vreni Häussermann of the Huinay Scientific Field Station found thirty stranded sei whales in the same area. The two teams joined together and began conducting fly-overs of the region. This led them to make the discovery on 23 June.

An investigation is underway by the Chilean government, as the country’s laws protect whales, as well as Gutstein and her team. She declined to speculate on the cause of death, but National Geographic says similar incidents in the past have been caused by red tides, a colloquialism for blooms of toxic microorganisms. Red tides are made worse by runoffs from sewage and fertilizer, but Gutstein notes that the cause and effect is tenuous. She says it is “very difficult to find one person or corporation culpable.”

Compounding the difficulty is the fact that very little is known about the environment for whales of off Chile’s coast. “We know some about how many have died now but how many are alive? We don’t know...We don’t have much data.”

Whales are frequently beached on Chile’s coastal region, but it wasn’t until the discovery in April that scientists saw the large-scale death of sei whales specifically.