The small Romanesque church of Santa Bárbara de Pruneres, in the Alta Garrotxa region, became a space dedicated to science and history. During a well-attended gathering held on a Sunday in mid-October, a piece of whale rib, approximately two meters long, was the object of veneration and analysis by a team of archaeologists from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), while more than a hundred worshippers witnessed the scene. The immense bone was taken down from the side chapel where it has been displayed since 2004 and placed in the center of the altar, from where the UAB scientists ceremoniously extracted samples for analysis.

If you have seen or read Pinocchio, you will remember the image of old Geppetto and his animated puppet being swallowed by a giant whale. Surprisingly, that is what happened to a young Chilean boy who was kayaking with his father this Saturday in the Strait of Magellan, Chile: he was swallowed by a whale and spat out.