Stranded deep whale
TopographyĬoastal topography and tidal ranges make some regions traps for marine mammals. Here’s what scientists know about why whales beach themselves-from confusing coastlines to threats posed by humans.
“There's probably as many reasons for why whales and dolphins strand as there are strandings themselves,” says Kevin Robinson, director of the Cetacean Research & Rescue Unit, a Scottish marine conservation charity.
For any stranding, the cause can be traced to a number of factors. High-profile events-such as the 2015 stranding of more than 300 sei whales in southern Chile’s Patagonia region, or a string of beaked whales that washed ashore in Guam between 20-show this is a truly global phenomenon. In the United Kingdom, the Zoological Society of London’s Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) has logged more than 12,000 stranded cetaceans since 1990. Sometimes a group of marine animals beach themselves together in what are known as mass strandings, and other times a region might see an unusual number of strandings over a period of time. This phenomenon-called beaching or stranding-occurs among both healthy individuals as well as injured (or dead) animals that are driven ashore by prevailing winds. Every year thousands of whales, dolphins, and other marine animals wash up on beaches around the world.