Between Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December, 2009, seven sperm whales stranded on the northern coast of the Gargano Peninsula (Italy), in the Adriatic Sea. 

The animals, all 10+ m long, were scattered along a stretch of approximately 4 km of beach.

The animals were alive at the time of stranding, but only two had survived by December 12th, and all were dead by December 13th.

Observers reported that two more animals seen in the initial sperm whale pod were able to regain deep waters.