Why did the whale run aground?

Whales are the largest creatures in the sea world, weighing from several tons to dozens of tons, so it is very tricky for whales to be stranded. Of course, not all stranded whales will eventually die. when the next tide comes, the undead whales will be washed back, and the remaining dead whales will be disposed of. Let's take a look at why the whales are stranded.

The discovery of whale stranding

According to records, as far back as 1783, 18 sperm whales rushed to the mouth of the Elbe River in Europe, waiting to die. The following year, another 32 sperm whales were stranded in the Bay of Odieni, France. In the 18th century, some navigators found a terrible whale graveyard in Tass, with piles of rotting corpses and bones scattered on the beach. The first person in the world to record whale stranding was the great Greek philosopher Aristotle, who bluntly told people, "Why on earth did whales run aground?" I can't answer this problem. " However, Plutah, a famous ancient scholar, interpreted the phenomenon of whale stranding as "collective suicide", which is obviously unscientific, because whales cannot have as rich feelings as human beings, and whales often look frightened once they are stranded. Even make a tragic cry for help.

Why did the whale run aground?

1. System failure: so far, scientists have not been able to explain why these whales are "stranded", but most of the explanations are related to the echolocation system in their bodies. In fact, whales do not rely on their eyes to navigate, measure objects and hunt. Whales have a highly sensitive echo ranging ability, and visceral discomfort, parasites or the system itself may cause the echolocation system to malfunction. Let the whales lose their way and run around.

2. Topographic reasons: for why whales are stranded, some scientists also believe that when whales stray into gentle waters with the water potential in order to hunt, once the tide goes out, they will be stranded, and when they swim into the bay in order to chase a school of fish, when ultrasonic waves are sent to beaches with large slopes, the echo is often so erroneous that it can not even receive the echo at all, and it will lose its way. Whales are flocks of animals, and if one whale rushes into the beach and runs aground, the rest will risk their lives to follow, resulting in a tragedy of death and injury.

3. Environmental pollution: environmental pollution is also attributed to whale stranding by environmentalists and scientists, who believe that the chemicals that pollute the sea may disturb the whales' senses. In addition, Dr. Collide, deputy director of the Marine Mammal Research Center in La Rochelle, France, believes that the sound waves emitted by warship sonar and echo control instruments and the noise of underwater explosions will disrupt the echolocation system of whales.

What are the incidents of whale stranding?

In 1754, more than 30 sperm whales were stranded and died on the beach in the Bay of Ogilyn, France.

In 1970, more than 150 orcas rushed to shore at the beach in Piersburg, Florida.

On July 17, 1979, more than 130 whales died in Oz Gorge Bay, Canada.

On March 10, 2005, a national first-class marine protected animal, more than 8 meters long and weighing about 4 tons, was found stranded on the coast near Liangmei Village, Dashanjiang Street, Wuchuan City on the afternoon of March 10, 2005.

On March 11, 2008, a 2-ton whale was stranded in Hainan and died.

On March 11, 2008, a whale weighing more than 2 tons was found stranded in Chaotan Port, Jinshan Town, Wenchang City, Hainan Province. The relevant departments have buried the whale and will extract the fish skeleton into a specimen for research.

An adult Japanese beaked whale weighing 3000 jin ran aground in the Jinsha sea area of Qingdao Development Zone on August 30, 2008.

On March 16, 2012, four sperm whales were stranded on the beach near the Xintan Salt Farm in Yancheng (34 degrees 22 minutes north latitude, 120 degrees 10 minutes east longitude). The big ones weighed 30 to 40 tons and the small ones weighed nearly 20 tons. after dissecting and sampling them by researchers from Nanjing normal University on March 19, 2012, they were buried in the middle of the night and in the early hours of the 20th.

On October 26, 2012, Indian officials confirmed that about 40 giant whales were stranded on the west coast of North Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal. It is not clear why. Ajayi Saxina, an official in Port Blair, the capital of the North Andaman Islands, said that the stranded short-finned pilot whales were found by local fishermen, and that there had never been a collective stranding of whales in the Andaman Islands.