First sighting of Gray Whale Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg, 1861) (Cetartiodactyla: Eschrichtiidae) in Italian waters and review of Mediterranean Sea records

Here, we report the sighting, which occurred in 2021, of a juvenile Gray Whale (Eschrichtius ro-bustus) in the Tyrrhenian Sea along the coast of Lazio and Campania regions (Central-Southern Italy). It is the first record of this species in Italian waters and the second one in the Mediterranean Sea after the sighting of one specimen occurred in 2010 off the Israeli and Spain coasts. Further-more, we investigate and discuss the ancient and modern data from the Mediterranean Sea and the possible reasons for explaining the presence of the specimen in an area so far from its usual geographical range.