On July 18, 2023, 97 pilot whales ran aground near Albany, Washington. Soon after, hundreds of people rushed to Chains Beach and offered to help. Despite the combined efforts of wildlife experts and volunteers, all the whales have died. The only solace for bewildered witnesses is the hope of learning from the tragedy.

Currently, scientists do not know why whales flock to the beach. “This has been a question for us for many years,” says Dr Chong Wei, a research fellow at Curtin University’s Center for Marine Science and Technology.

Scientists from all over Australia are examining pilot whale carcasses in Albany for clues. “There’s a big team working on this,” says Chong. A spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Monuments (DBCA) said testing could take several months.

One theory for why whales wash ashore is acoustic trauma. “Toothed whales rely on sound for essential life functions,” says Chong. “They send out sounds and listen for echoes to sense and navigate their environment.” Loud underwater sounds, such as military sonar, can potentially disrupt whales’ echolocation system.

“Human activity can cause major disruptions,” says Chong. “[Кити] They could lose their direction, which could cause them to run aground.”

Chong’s team will look for evidence of acoustic trauma using computed tomography (CT) scans of the heads of stranded pilot whales. His team had previously done similar tests on fish to test for damage caused by noise.

“When a fish experiences intense noise for a while, it causes physical damage,” says Chong. “Very small holes in the otolith membranes can cause hearing loss.”

“We’re going to do a medical CT scan of the whole head first. [кита], to check internal structures. We will then do a micro CT scan of the ears to provide a much higher resolution. Based on these scans, we can model the processes of formation and perception of sounds that occur in the heads of animals.”

Another theory behind the mass stranding of whales is disease. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development will perform histopathological tests on tissue samples from the whales to check for signs of disease.

Flinders University in South Australia will test for viral or bacterial diseases using dry swab samples. The University of Western Australia will analyze the DNA to “help understand population dynamics and potential genetic vulnerability,” according to the DBCA.

DBCA staff will also take morphometric measurements, including length, gender and photograph. We hope this will help us better understand the composition and demographics of the group.

Some experts suggest that whales’ strong social bonds may be a contributing factor. Group strandings usually only include the most social families of toothed whales. Once one of their groups runs aground, the others can follow. Once ashore, they may also hinder rescue efforts by refusing to let go of their loved ones.

“Maybe it’s just their emotional bond with their peers that keeps them there,” Griffith University researcher Olaf Meinecke told ABC in an interview about pilot whales.

Thousands of whales are stranded each year. New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 strandings since 1840, while the United Kingdom has recorded 17,850 strandings since 1990. Some of these places show similarities in beach topography and environmental conditions. For example, Golden Bay and Cape Cod have narrow landmasses, long soft beaches and significant tidal fluctuations.

It is believed that whale echolocation systems may not work effectively in these areas when the tide falls rapidly, creating natural ‘whale traps’.

The number of stranded whales has increased in recent years. However, it is unclear whether this indicates a real increase in the frequency and magnitude of these events. Instead, it may simply reflect an individual’s enhanced awareness and recording effort. “We’re definitely collecting more data these days,” says Chong. In some cases, greater numbers of stranded whales may indicate an increase in total whale numbers, indicating healthier populations.

After the end of commercial whaling in the 1980s, the humpback whale population increased significantly, with reports of stranding. Mass stranding of whales is still considered a “natural event,” according to the DBCA. It’s hard to prevent this until you understand why they do it. On the plus side, the wrap provides access to samples that would otherwise be very difficult to collect. This valuable data can inform scientists about how whales live and possible causes of their deaths. Source