The beaching of Whales

The beaching of whales

Whales are a marine mammal.They are unusual creatures,big and beautiful and important for the ecology of our seas. They comprise different species.There are the Blue Whales, Beluga Whales,Humpback Whales,Sperm Whales and many other species and varieties, excluding dolphins and porpoises. 

Man and mammal have always had a close interaction but a mixed relationship over centuries. Our impact on their lives has been considerable.Because of their immense size  as whales have been watched, whales have been harvested and whales have been spared by bans on whaling. Their role in human culture shows how strongly we feel associated with them. Yet with admiration can come a desire to destroy. The use of military sonar and underwater sounds can confuse whales sending them off into alien waters and to land. Add in marine pollution particularly plastic waste and the danger of stranding is multiplied hundred fold.

The real reasons for beaching by large numbers of whales are still unclear, but it is thought a combination of factors contribute and leave them vulnerable, perhaps coming too close to shore to avoid predators.

The mass stranding of whales and other marine mammals date back in time to the days of Aristotle.Whales have always been held in high esteem,sacred to some ancient Gods and in some cases supernatural beings themselves.

But since 1840 New Zealand has one of the highest rates of whale stranding in the world. In 1918,1000 whales stranded themselves on the Chatham Island. In 1985,450 stranded at Great Barrier Island of the coast of Auckland. On 23 June 2015,337 whales were discovered in the remote fiord in Patagonia, South Chile, said to have been caused by ingestion of poisonous algae.  

Most recent stranding

On the evening of Thursday, February 9th 2017,conservationists and rescuers off Farewell Spit,Golden Bay at the northern west tip of South Island,New Zealand saw hundreds, estimated at 650 Pilot whales washed ashore. It was the largest stranding in living memory, They said they had no clue why the whales had  beached themselves in the shallow bay which made them difficult to swim out once they had entered.

It is an emotionally exhaustive event as rescuers have been summoned and who are continuing to spend days pouring water over them to keep them cool,while waiting to catch the high tide to carry them out to sea again. 

Hours after rescuers managed to refloat a group of the original stranded, a new pod of 240 whales have rebeached along the the three mile stretch of coastline. 

We are informed that some 335 of the whales have died,some 220 are still alive but stranded and about 100 are back at sea. 

Possible action

While schoolchildren are told to sing songs to soothe the distressed mammals, researchers believe refloating the dying mammals only prolongs their suffering. Large animals everyone knows are very difficult to euthanise humanely and effectively,due to their size. 

Our human instinct is to return the mammals to their natural habitat.

One Conservationist biologist researcher has said: "It is a great loss, both in terms of a wonderful life that ended on a beach and in terms of knowledge we research we never got a chance to glimpse, if these mammals were literally dumped back to sea." 

The world has a choice to put and end to the "islands" of plastic which is dumped in the oceans. We desperately need to be alert to the distress calls of these mammals before they beach themselves.  

Victor Cherubim