Beached whale

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A beached whale is a whale which has become stranded on land, usually on a beach. Beaching is often fatal for whales, as they become dehydrated and die. Some die when their lungs are suffocated under their own weight or drown when high tides cover their blowholes. Humans sometimes try to save beached whales; however, such efforts are not always successful.

Causes

The cause of beaching is not definitively known. However, there is some evidence that anti-submarine warfare sonar and other underwater noises (such as those emitted from oil drills) are of a sufficient intensity to cause the whales to surface too rapidly. The whales suffer hemorrhaging and decompression sickness due to the rapid pressure change. The resulting disorientation could then cause the whale to become beached.

Ken Balcomb, a zoologist, specializing in the study of whales, particularly the orca (killer whale) populations that inhabit the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington and Vancouver Island, has investigated mass beachings of whales. In March 2000, he investigated a mass beaching of beaked whales in his study population stranded near his Bahamas field station following a U.S. Navy sonar exercise. The four carcasses he examined had hemorrhages in the acoustic regions, and provided the first evidence of pressure traumas that can be "caused" by sonar, although the precise mechanism for damage is still unknown.

Another controversial theory, researched by Jim Berkland, a former geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, attributes the strange behavior to radical changes in the Earth's magnetic field just prior to earthquakes and in the general area of earthquakes. Berkland says when this occurs, it interferes with sea mammals' and even migratory birds' ability to navigate, which explains the mass beachings. He says even dogs and cats can sense the disruptions, which explains elevated rates of runaway pets in local newspapers a day or two prior to earthquakes. Research on Earth's magnetic field and how it is affected by moving tectonic plates and earthquakes is ongoing.

Carcass

After a beached whale dies, it can become a source of disease and pollution. As they are very large, such corpses are difficult to move. There are reports of some cases where humans tried to blow up the carcass with explosives, with unexpected side effects to spectators.

A whale carcass should not be consumed. In 2002, fourteen Alaskans ate muktuk (whale blubber) from a beached whale, and eight of them developed symptoms of botulism, two of them requiring mechanical ventilation. This is of course a problem in common with any spoiled meat, or meat taken from an already-dead animal.

See also

• Exploding whale

References