Entire pod of 89 pilot whales dies on Scottish beach in freak mass stranding
There are days, given the news cycle, that I would consider beaching myself if I was a whale.
I hear ya
Do they get confused and fail to navigate properly or is it something else? IDK.
@TheoryNumber3 From your reference, but below the search highlighted passages:
THE EFFECTS OF SONAR AND OTHER LOUD UNDERWATER NOISE
Some scientists believe sonar signals and other man-made loud underwater noises may contribute to beaching events. Low and mid-frequency active sonar is used by militaries to detect submarines, and for other acoustic exercises. These frequencies do not affect all species but can be deadly for some. Low sonar can cause hemorrhaging in animals exposed to the sonar, and others will beach themselves to escape the sound. Mid-frequency sonar most affects Cuvierโs beaked whales, causing decompression sickness, leading to tissue damage from gas bubble lesions. This sickness could happen because the sonar causes the whales to panic and surface too quickly to escape. Mass beachings of beaked whales almost exclusively occur alongside sonar testing.
it's not fully understood, mass whale strandings occurred long before recorded history. Sonar and other human activity contribute to some no doubt, but there were mass strandings long before sonar. 1902: