NICOSSIA: The Cyprus government is investigating how seven whales mysteriously washed up dead on the rugged shoreline of the island’s north coast, authorities said on Saturday.
There were reports another three whales from the same species had been found dead on beaches further east in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
It is the largest number of whale deaths recorded on the eastern Mediterranean island, where whales are occasionally sighted but are by no means common.
The whales that died were all Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), famed for diving deeper and for longer than any other species of mammal.
The whales were found on several beaches along the north coast between Polis and Pachyammos.
A first whale was found dead on Thursday, along with three beached whales, which were pushed back out to sea.
Six more, which may or may not have included the three rescued on Thursday, were found dead on Friday.
“The autopsy of the Ziphius species whale was carried out to establish their causes of death after the six dead whales washed up on the northern coast of Paphos (district),” Department of Fisheries and Marine Research official Ioannis Ioannou told the state-run Cyprus News Agency.
He said experts collected samples for further specialized examination.
It is the first time that so many whales have been found dead. Two incidents were recorded in 2021 and 2022, but both involved only a single animal.
Seven whales wash up dead on Cyprus
https://arab.news/z7vp2
Seven whales wash up dead on Cyprus
- The whales that died were all Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris)
- The whales were found on several beaches along the north coast between Polis and Pachyammos
Second doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced to home confinement
- Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October
- Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service
LOS ANGELES: A second California doctor was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement for illegally supplying “Friends” star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor’s fatal drug overdose in a hot tub in 2023.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute the prescription anesthetic and surrendered his medical license in November.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service. As part of his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to another physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who in turn supplied the drug to Perry, though not the dose that ultimately killed the performer. Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful drug distribution, was sentenced earlier this month to 2 1/2 years behind bars.
He and Chavez were the first two of five people convicted in connection with Perry’s ketamine-induced death to be sent off to prison.
The three others scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks — Jasveen Sangha, 42, a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen;” a go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry’s former personal assistant, Iwamasa, 60.
Sangha admitted to supplying the ketamine dose that killed Perry, and Iwamasa acknowledged injecting Perry with it. It was Iwamasa who later found Perry, aged 54, face down and lifeless, in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing him to lose consciousness and drown.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s NBC television series “Friends.”
According to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusions for treatment of depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous providers elsewhere willing to exploit Perry’s drug dependency as a way to make quick money, authorities said. Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.
