News and SocietyNature

How do whales die and why is this happening? Who is to blame for the death of these animals?

The ocean hides in itself a lot of secrets, and not always people manage to solve them. Despite the level of development of science there are still a lot of questions that humanity would like to receive answers to. Remember at least whales. I managed to learn a lot of information about their lives. But what happens after their death? How do whales die and why is this happening? There are several options for the development of events.

Places of mass death of whales

To answer the question of how the whales die, it is necessary to understand where this happens. Many cases were recorded when the whales were thrown ashore, and this could be either a single phenomenon or a mass one. Presumably, on the ocean floor there are entire cemeteries of these animals, given their life expectancy and population. However, until this time, only solitary carcasses of dead animals were found.

Much more interesting is the answer to the question of why whales die on land. Are they discarded on their own, or is it an accident, for example, during a storm?

On our planet, there are many places where there have been recorded cases of mass deaths of whales ashore. They abandoned themselves, or it was due to the activities of people, we still consider. But where does this happen?

Notorious is the beach of Fairwell Sleep, which is located on one of the islands of New Zealand. In February of this year, about 200 individuals of the grind (one of the whale species) fled ashore . According to scientists, such an incident on such a scale happened for the first time in the last ten years. Despite all the attempts to save the animals, about a hundred died. By all accounts it was like mass suicide. But what caused this decision of whales?

Farewell-sleeping is not the only place where hundreds of cetaceans die. For example, only on the coast of the UK every year more than 800 individuals are found. Even if we assume that all the fault is bad weather, then why do whales die when they are thrown ashore during a storm? It's all about the huge mass of the animal's body. Left without the support of water, they are crushed by their own weight.

Now we need to consider why the whales are thrown ashore.

The problem of ocean pollution

The first reason is quite obvious. Human activities almost always harm other living beings. Whales were no exception. Annually in the world ocean gets a huge amount of debris - more than a million tons. Basically, it gets into the water from the beaches, which do not have time to clean up. Do not forget about passenger, cargo and fishing vessels. Straying into heaps, this garbage attracts animals that can swallow it.

This theory has many confirmations. Repeatedly in the stomachs of animals that were thrown ashore and died, they found kilograms of synthetic waste. For example, in 2002 two sperm whales were ashore on the same coast of the US. In the stomach of each of them was found more than 200 kg of fishing nets and other garbage.

Animals can not get rid of it on their own. Synthetic waste causes whales to turn guts. To rid themselves of suffering, animals commit suicide.

This version is quite convincing for single or paired cases, which concern the death of whales. However, it does not explain mass suicides.

Actions of the military

Answering the question about why whales die, many zoologists say that the fault is due to the powerful hydroacoustic locators that the military uses on their ships. They are able to send signals over a long distance. By nature, whales are quite shy. They hunt at great depths, where there are no rivals, which means that there are no extraneous sounds there either.

Hearing the sounds of the echolocation, the animal is frightened and tries to ascend to the surface as quickly as possible. This causes the whales to lose their orientation in space. In addition, a rapid ascent threatens the fact that they have to bear a large change in pressure, which can cause the formation of gas bubbles in the blood of the animal.

In 2008, the mass mortality of whales was recorded in the area of the island of Madagascar, although earlier there were no such incidents in this territory. The death of animals was associated with the work of the echolocator.

But it would be wrong to shift all the blame on the military, without considering other versions.

Evil Nature Joke

We should not exclude natural causes that will help answer the question of why and how whales die.

One of them is a change in the rose of the winds. Scientists noted that mass suicides occur every 11-13 years, when such natural changes occur. The changed wind brings to shore the plankton, which these animals eat, and disoriented whales in search of food are thrown ashore.

The sick leader

Another reason for these tragic events can be found in the social organization of whales. They live in fairly large groups, which include males, females, and also cubs. Each such group has a dominant leader. If he is sick or loses orientation, he endangers all other members of the pack. Animals die, and scientists have to wonder why and how whales die. Photos of evidence of this theory are also many.

For example, a case was recorded that occurred in 2012 near the shores of Scotland. Then a whole flock of black dolphins was discovered , which were thrown ashore. Among them - an old sick male.

It is possible that the sick animal is trying to throw ashore, so as not to endanger the other members of the pack. However, they continue to follow their leader and find their own ruin.

Whales were thrown ashore in prehistoric times

Despite the obvious and logical nature of all the above arguments, one can not turn a blind eye to this fact: whales were thrown ashore before the first person appeared on Earth . The last confirmation of this was found in 2014. Scientists in Chile found the remains of four whales that were thrown to dry land at different times with an interval of about 5 million years. It seems that the whales were thrown ashore in the prehistoric era, when human activity could not become the reason. Scientists suggest that animals could be poisoned by algae. Some of them are really very toxic to whales.

Thus, no one can give an exact answer to the question of why and how the whales die. Most of them agree that the reason for this is the combination of all of the above factors.

Similar articles

 

 

 

 

Trending Now

 

 

 

 

Newest

Copyright © 2018 en.atomiyme.com. Theme powered by WordPress.