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SPAIN

November/December 2018

World Roundup SpainSPAIN: Roman whalers? Perhaps. A new study using advanced technology was able to identify the bones of both the North Atlantic right whale and the gray whale from a handful of Roman sites around the Strait of Gibraltar. Southern Iberia was once home to a thriving Roman fish-processing industry. Although these whale species no longer frequent these waters, researchers argue that around 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, they would have been prevalent in the western Mediterranean and were likely hunted by Roman fishermen.