I read an article about pilot whales beached in Indonesia recently and the natives cutting off the meat to eat. I felt really sad and I went in search of why do whales beach themselves? There is no definite answer as yet, perhaps because the factors are so varied and we know so little about whales. Whales that beach themselves die not out of water, but when the tide comes in and drowns them or when the sand gets into their blowholes or they get dehydrated so much in the sun and die.
Records of whales beaching themselves go all the way back to Aristotle’s time (384 BC – 322 BC). It could be because of a natural evolutionary trait where whales that are sick beach themselves so that they do not infect or affect the rest of the pod. It does seem to make sense, to ensure survival and also to die on the beach rather than be eaten by sharks or rot in the ocean.
However, this does not explain mass beaching incidents where the highest record has been of 835 false killer whales. Some say that it is because of marine chemical pollution or perhaps because of military sonar or anomalies in magnetic field. Most of the time even when people manage to push the whales back into the sea, they head straight back to shore and it’s very difficult to keep pushing them back. In the end they have to euthanize the whales.
from the Scientific American, Telegraph, Stephen Theron, Brian Palmer, are rather informative.
I feel sad and I believe the increase in the number of whales beaching themselves around the world has some links to human activities. We are partly if not wholly responsible. There’s something horrifying about a beached whale. It pulls at our heart strings to see these magnificent creatures rendered helpless and dying on shores.
missteomissteo! 