The UK may have just experienced its most fatal mass stranding on record after a pod of 55 whales washed up on a Scottish beach on Sunday – and experts think there might be one particularly upsetting reason why.
Fifteen of the pod were alive when they were stranded on the Isle of Lewis, but attempts to re-float them were unsuccessful.
As the mammals had been out of the water for so long, experts decided to euthanise those still alive on welfare grounds.
The incident will be investigated by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) to determine what was behind it, although the weather could impede the post-mortems on selected whales.
Veterinary pathologist Dr Andrew Brownlow told BBC Radio Scotland: “There are more animals sadly which are awaiting necropsy now than all of the mass strandings put together for the last decade.”
He added: “It’s simply a race against time, energy and weather. We will do the most that we possibly can to find out what’s been going on here.”
Did one whale get into difficulty?
The charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said that one of the female whales was found with a vaginal prolapse.
The charity suggested the rest of the pod may have followed her onto shore after the female struggled with birth complications.
The charity said: “Pilot whales are notorious for their strong social bonds, so often when one whale gets into difficulty and strands, the rest follow.”
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened near Scotland.
In Staffin on Skye in 2015, another pod also followed a female on shore after birthing complications.
Back in 2011, between 60 and 70 whales moved into shallow waters in Sutherland, and another 21 died after beaching themselves at Pittenweem in 2012.
This is a phenomenon which is not just linked to Scotland. In 2022, more than 200 pilot whales were also found on a remote beach of Australia’s Tasmania.
At the time, it was theorised that the pod may have followed a sick or disoriented leader.
Could something else have caused the mass stranding?
There is a concern this could be something to do with human impact, because climate change can affect the whales’ sense of navigation.
That could include anything from shifts in the water’s temperature – something scientists have noticed in recent weeks – to changes in their prey’s habitats.
But Dr Brownlow told the BBC: “Pilot whale strandings have happened for centuries – it’s not necessarily the case that it’s because of human impact.
“But that’s one of the things we want to try and investigate and rule out – to see whether or not some of the things that can affect these animals such as underwater noise, interaction with fishing gear, accumulation of toxins or disease may have played a part.”