Whale Stranding: Whale Rescue and How You Can Help

Due to social media, we have witnessed various content that many people exhibit from different places. Maybe, you’ve also seen a story, a picture, or a video of a whale on a beach struggling or a group of people doing whale rescue for stranded whales.

Sadly, such a situation is never rare. Thousands of marine animals wash up on beaches globally every year, and many of these animals were whales. This phenomenon called beaching or whale stranding occurs among disabled animals and even in good health due to the prevailing winds. Other times, a group of marine mammals beaches themselves together in what is known as mass strandings.

If we are not going to pay attention and let this happen, whales and other marine animals will keep being helpless on land and eventually die. An incident where whales get stranded on their own is rampant in some parts of the world, including Europe. A more significant number, however, is wounded, old, or sick. On the other hand, in New Zealand, whales come ashore in groups where the majority are healthy and in perfect shape. But no matter the reason for a whale stranding, it’s relieving witnessing a whale rescue and knowing that people are trying to save these animals.

“There are 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. This Marine Mammal Rescue Day, we feel the need to make you delve deeper into the reasons why this happens or the right actions we should make if we encounter a whale stranding in the future. Here’s what scientists want to let us know about why whales beach themselves.

In this article you will find:

• What Causes Whales to Strand?
  
  • Natural Causes
  • Human Activities
  • Mass Strandings
• How Do You Rescue A Stranded Whale

• Organizations You Can Support To Help Save The Whales
  • Whale and Dolphin Conservation
  • Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
  • Ric O' Barry's Dolphin Project
  • Save The Whales

What Causes Whales to Strand?

Natural Causes

“A stranded whale on the beach could be lost, sick, wounded, or compromised—for example, experiencing difficult labor or simply old,” explains Dan Jarvis, a welfare development and field support officer at British Divers Marine Life Rescue. Those animals that get weak might drift with the current until they settle ashore, while some can accidentally wander into shallower waters from disorientation. Besides that, climate change also has an indirect role to play in such incidents. “Climatic conditions do cause whale strandings,” says J.K. Patterson Edward, Director, Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. Natural causes like injury or old age can be one reason why whales get stranded on a beach.

Human Activities

It becomes alarming when there’s a whale rescue due to a high number of whale stranding. Human-made pollution can be one of the treacherous causes. All these harmful chemicals subsequently make their way to the ocean, imposing risks to marine mammals and marine life as a whole. Rob Deaville, project manager at CSIP, reiterates there’s evidence that chemical pollutants are higher in diseased animals. Moreover, whales also experience entanglement, ingestion, or contamination of microplastics racking up in their bodies due to plastic pollution. Materials and substances that we use on a daily basis are usually the causes of pollution that can greatly affect our marine animals.

Mass Strandings

The term stranding refers to a marine animal found in the wrong location. When three or more animals strand together, it is called a mass stranding. Pilot whales are the most common species that people would find stranded. Mass strandings may consist of one or numerous species. More often than not, humans would find stranded animals more on a beach or in shallow water. With the whales’ herding instinct, the group will more likely stay together although one is sick. About 1,000 cetaceans and 2,500 pinnipeds strand every year along the U.S. coast alone. Noise pollution and overfishing interrupts tidal patterns which may sometimes be the cause why whales get stranded at the beach.

How Do You Rescue A Stranded Whale

For centuries, many people have wondered how a whale on a beach gets stranded. Scientists refer to the incidents as a whale stranding. Now that you’ve learned how this phenomenon happens and where it usually happens, you might as well educate yourself a bit on how you can respond to such an occurrence in the future so that you can contribute to a successful whale rescue.

One thing that you least like to happen when encountering a stranded whale is to panic. Once you’ve observed a beached whale, contact the authorities with your location. Tell as much detail about the whale. The right people to call in such a situation are the local marine mammal stranding network. Marine mammal stranding networks cover all coastal areas in the United States, as authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service. If you cannot reach a stranding network, your next option would be wildlife personnel or the police.

When reporting a whale stranding, it is essential to have the following details ready to pass on:

• Description of the whale
• Number of whales involved
• Condition of the whale
• The exact location and directions to the stranding site
• Names and telephone numbers of people involved
• Date and time of your observations