Well, it has just been reported that in New Zealand, about 200 more black pilot whales have washed up on land near Cape Farewell in the north of the South Island. All TV channels show how volunteers are trying to save them, pouring water over them and wrapping them in wet rags.
At the same time, about 400 pilot whales threw themselves out in the same area a day earlier. As reported, most of them, up to 300 individuals, were already dead.
Such cases are not the first in history. Why is this happening?
People have found marine animals that have washed up on the shore for no reason at least since the first century AD - ancient Roman and ancient Greek documents testify to this. Today, marine biologists undertake to name the reasons for only half of these incidents, and these reasons are very different.
In 2002, 55 whales washed up on the shores of Cape Cod. Thanks to the efforts of American rescuers, 46 animals were saved. People poured water on the whales and covered them with wet towels to prevent them from overheating. When the tide came in, the whales were dragged into the water. Alas, some of these marine animals did not wait for the tide.
In 2004, 15 whales washed up on the shores of two islands in the area of the Canaries archipelago. Only three of them were saved.
In June 2005, about 160 whales washed up on the coast of Australia. Rescuers with the help of volunteers did not allow the five-meter "fish" to die.
In October 2005, 70 whales died on the beaches of Tasmania (Australia).
In March 2007, 12 whales washed up on the shore of one of the Galapagos Islands. Despite the best efforts of rescuers, seven animals died.
In 2012, on Cape Cod alone, 177 common dolphins ran aground and 124 died, according to reports from the Associated Press. The report also mentioned that in total this number of dolphins exceeds the average of 37 animals recorded in the previous 12 years.
More than 200 dead dolphins have washed up on the beaches of Chiclayo, Peru. In this case, not only dead dolphins were found, but also dead fish - anchovies. Since this small fish is food for dolphins, it is possible that they got sick because of these fish, but the cause of death of animals remains a mystery.
Why is this happening?
Often it is an injury or illness. An animal that has suffered from a predator attack may feel too weak to float on the water, at some point it gives up and allows the waves to wash it ashore. In our case, the head of the marine program of the World Fund wildlife Konstantin Zgurovsky suggested that cetaceans could have been stunned by seismic surveys or underwater acoustic systems warships. According to the expert, there are also suggestions that animals are infected with worms or poisoned by pollutants entering the ocean, such as heavy metals.
Climate cycles may have changed the direction of movement of fish and other living creatures that dolphins feed on. Dolphins, chasing prey, could swim close to the shore and throw themselves onto land. This makes sense when you consider that sardines and other fish have been found washed ashore in Peru with dolphins.
Much more mysterious are the cases when a whole group of animals is thrown ashore. One explanation scientists offer is that whales and dolphins, which hunt and migrate in small herds, are victims of their own social structure. If the leader or dominant animal is washed ashore due to illness or injury, then the rest of the group may follow him. Whales always help out a relative from their flock. If one of the whales mistakenly wandered into shallow water, he immediately begins to give signals to his relatives, and they rush to help. Alas, the whales, instead of saving their comrade, get into trouble themselves.
Another version is that the herd swims too close to the shore and does not have time to return at low tide.
In some cases, mass "suicides" of marine animals are committed shortly after the active use of nearby military sonars. In 2000 in the Bahamas, for example, 17 animals of four different types(beaked whales, toothed whales, pygmy minke whales and spotted dolphins) were found ashore for 36 hours - on the day the sonar was used in these places and the next day.
Research carried out after this incident National Administration by ocean and atmosphere showed that naval echolocation devices were the most likely cause. Research data suggest that sonars had an impact on both the physical condition and behavior of marine animals.
Whales are excellent at navigating the ocean, which is why biologists say they have a magnetic compass in their brains, thanks to which these marine creatures can navigate by the Earth's magnetic field. If there is a geomagnetic obstacle in front of the whales, their internal compass fails, and they begin to swim in the wrong direction. It is known that rescued whales are often washed ashore again. Perhaps this is precisely due to the breakdown of the compass - the whales returned to the water, but they cannot orient themselves.
There is also the theory of noise. This theory is the most popular today. Scientists say that whales and dolphins are killed by the deafening roar of submarines. Losing their hearing, the whales stop orienting themselves and are washed ashore. Examination of the bodies of ejected animals suggested that the cause of suicide was decompression sickness (decompression sickness). This malaise occurs when there is a sharp decrease in external pressure. Caisson sickness is called a disease of divers, pilots and workers working in caissons (underwater working chambers).
The strong noise under the water frightens the whales, and they begin to rise up too quickly - there is a sharp decrease in external pressure. This provokes the occurrence of decompression sickness in whales. Echo sounders, radars, sonars, missiles, submarines can scare whales. This version is supported by the facts - there are several examples of the release of whales at the time of the implementation of military exercises using sonar.
It also happens that animals are thrown ashore on purpose - for hunting. Black killer whales, for example, often attack pinnipeds such as seals or sea lions in the surf or close to the shore, where their victims change their mode of movement from swimming to walking in a rather clumsy manner. While the animal is trying to get out of the water, the killer whale makes a jerk and grabs the prey. After that, she has to either wait for a suitable wave, or try to return to the ocean, wriggling with her whole body.
Here is video evidence of one such hunt:
But 30 dolphins washed ashore:
Be that as it may, scientists have not yet come to a consensus.
sources
V current year the release of dolphins on the coast exceeded all statistical indicators by 10 (ten) times.
Dolphin releases are constantly occurring from time to time.
However, this year (2013) the phenomenon exceeded all figures ever recorded by biologists. Ten times more dolphins have washed up on the American East Coast than the average for all years.
Experts called the exact figure. Between July 1 and November 3, 2013, 753 bottlenose dolphins were thrown onto the American coast, from New York to Florida.
This was reported by environmentalists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to journalists of the American service. TV channel Al Jazeera.
What is this phenomenon
In this geographical region, from New York to Florida, and in the specified time interval, from July to November, the death of 74 dolphins is recorded. In the same year, this figure is higher by an order of magnitude. The scale of what happened is simply amazing.
The sun warmed up the sand. On a hot summer day, vacationers pay attention to the black fins, which inexorably approach the shore, cutting the water surface. The outlines of dolphins are already clearly distinguished. Drowsiness comes off people's faces. Everyone is watching mammals with interest, waiting interesting moments. But the animals are rapidly, at full speed, rushing to the shore. Interest on the faces is replaced by anxiety. Meanwhile, heavy carcasses of animals are thrown onto the sandy beach. Some time later, a similar picture occurs a kilometer from this site. There, another group of animals washed ashore. And so it is repeated day after day - when more, when less.
Most of the release occurs during the migration of dolphins in the summer months. If one individual is washed ashore, then the rest of the flock try to help him and, often, share his fate. Exhausted animals, with sunburns received on the shore, just as often again repeat the path to the shore, throwing themselves onto it.
What's this? How can this behavior of highly developed animals be explained?
Possible causes of dolphin suicide
Since humanity does not know much about life in water, today there are different hypotheses and assumptions about the reasons underlying this phenomenon.
One of these assumptions is that this phenomenon is evidence of an impending global environmental catastrophe.
Of marine animals, only cetaceans, to which dolphins belong, are marked by such a phenomenon.
The orientation of dolphins in the water is carried out by a very accurate location apparatus. Its resolution is evidenced by the fact that dolphins easily find a pea in the pool. Failure of such a natural locator can lead to outliers. But such a "technical" hypothesis does not explain the mass nature of this phenomenon.
The hypothesis that tries to explain the mass character is based on the manifestation of a certain herd feeling. That is, he is trying to present the release of dolphins as a social phenomenon. But here it is not clear, but why did the “instigator” decide to throw himself out? Also, the fragmentation of the flock into small groups and their release to the shore is not explained.
More realistic is, let's call conditionally, the medical version. Animals are struck by a certain disease, and they end up on the shore, not waiting for death in the water.
There are "buts" in this version as well. After some of them were rescued, the dolphins lived in aquariums for many years, were easy to train and were indistinguishable from their counterparts who were taken on the high seas.
Apparently, there is a combination of certain factors, both medical and social.
The main version is still "medical"
According to this version, the beaching is due to pneumonia and infection of the brain with a type of measles virus. Scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration specify that mammals most likely die due to a morbillivirus belonging to the same group as the human measles virus.
Teri Rawls, spokesman for the agency, said they cannot stop this epidemic due to the lack of a vaccine for the entire dolphin population. FDA experts analyzed tissue from 33 of the discarded animals, and all but one were infected with morbillivirus. He noted that dolphins have very low resistance to this virus. As a rule, when infected, the skin, lymph nodes, lungs and brain of dolphins are affected.
The possibility of transmitting the virus from dolphins to humans is virtually impossible.
Volunteers and rescuers today fought for the lives of pilot whales that washed ashore on the South Island of New Zealand, but only about 100 animals were saved.
Such a massive beaching of cetaceans is rare. As a rule, their number does not exceed a few dozen, Mukhametov said.
“It is characteristic that not coastal animals are usually thrown out, but pelagic ones - animals of open spaces. Animals that live near the shore, for example, our Black Sea bottlenose dolphins, are thrown out less often,” the scientist emphasizes.
Why do they do it
There are many hypotheses as to why whales and dolphins wash ashore. But scientists still do not know the exact reason, Mukhametov emphasizes.
“Most likely, the animals get sick. In the first place, you can put diseases of the auditory, echolocation apparatus. If it is disturbed, the animals may not feel like they are being washed ashore. When cetaceans are cast out en masse, most likely, an imitation reflex is triggered: if a sick leader of the herd is thrown out, his relatives follow him,” Mukhametov said. The disease can be caused by viruses and microbes, to which marine mammals are no less susceptible than terrestrial ones.
So, in the 80-90s of the last century, thousands of animals died in the North Atlantic due to a virus that came from the North Sea, spread to the North Atlantic, the Caribbean, and then spread to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, Mukhametov notes.
Land memory and geomagnetic lines
Among other hypotheses, the scientist calls the change in geomagnetic fields. “There is an assumption that they feel geomagnetic fields, navigate by them. If geomagnetic disturbances occur, this leads to ejections,” Mukhametov said.
There is a version that the echolocation abilities of cetaceans can falter near the coastline. "Echolocation misinforms animals near cliffs or flat surfaces - coast, beach - and they are thrown out," the expert explains.
Some cetacean researchers believe that animals have a "historical memory" of land. That is, marine mammals tend to throw themselves on the ground when they feel bad.
“There is an assumption that cetaceans, when they feel bad, tend to throw themselves on the ground, because they evolutionarily feel that it is better on land than in water. After all, these are secondary aquatic animals, their ancestors existed on land,” Mukhametov said.
“There was a case with a fighting dolphin while working at the training ground. He worked on the high seas and was very frightened of the shark. He rushed to the shore and threw himself ashore with a fright. It seems to be an illustration that historical memory makes you strive to the shore when you feel bad, ”said the scientist.
In early February 2017, about 400 pilot whales again washed up in shallow water near Cape Feruwell in New Zealand. The press reported that about 300 dolphins were already dead. Volunteers and ordinary residents tried to save them, but only a small part of the mammals survived.
This is a real disaster. Cetaceans have been stranded here before. The same case was in 1918 on the local islands. Then about 1000 cetaceans rushed to land. Another mass suicide of dolphins occurred in 1985 - then 450 pilot whales threw themselves onto the beach in Auckland. Why do dolphins wash up on land? What force pushes them to the shore? There are several well-known hypotheses that are expressed by conservationists.
Dolphin - the guardian of the planet earth
As you know, dolphins are conscious mammals that have their own language, as well as a sound signaling system. The language of dolphins is divided into 2 groups: the language of sounds, and the language of gestures.
- The language of sounds includes: ultrasound, and sound impulses. First of all, it's a whistle. As well as clicking, creaking, twittering, clapping, screeching and screaming. In 2006-2007, Americans conducted research - they came to the conclusion that dolphins have 32 types of whistles, each whistle means a certain call, or signal.
- Dolphin sign language: jumping, pronounced poses, signs, splashing in the water, and so on. Despite many experiments, it has not yet been possible to decipher the language of dolphins, we can only guess what they are trying to tell us. In addition, scientists from the state of Florida came to the conclusion that each dolphin is given a name at birth, which is indicated by a certain whistle.
Employees of the Karadag Reserve recorded a conversation between two dolphins. It was found that while one is speaking a whole sentence consisting of impulses, the other is listening to him, and vice versa. It is like a conversation between people. Professor Ryabov stated: "The language of dolphins contains all the features that correspond to human speech, and this means that dolphins are intelligent."
Pulse Graph
I would also like to note the relationship between a dolphin and a human: they treat us like friends, brothers in mind. It is no coincidence that dolphin therapy has long been used to improve people's health. Dolphin therapy, that is, contact with a dolphin, is especially good for sick children.
Physiotherapists believe that communication with dolphins contributes to both physical and spiritual healing of children. Such treatment applies to children with cerebral palsy, developmental delays, autists.
For adults, this therapy helps to deal with stress, chronic syndrome. fatigue, disorders of the nervous system.
And all the more strange and incomprehensible are the actions of some European states, and Japan, in which the attitude towards dolphins is simply barbaric.
The massacre of dolphins off the coast of the Faroe Islands is shocking with its cruelty, when these rare animals are killed by the thousands, hiding behind their "traditions". This tradition begins in the 10th century and continues every year. At the same time, there are teenagers, children, pregnant women - in general, all the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands. The water turns red, and only the cries of dolphins are heard ...
Firstly, a dolphin is not a simple animal, and mockery of them cannot but leave a mark on new generations, thereby shaping children's minds. And these dolphin killings are taking place in civilized countries! Even in the jungle, the struggle for survival takes place according to the rules established by nature, but man always deliberately violates these rules. Destroying animals thoughtlessly, for the sake of a whim, a person comes closer and closer to the edge of the abyss.
Mass suicides of dolphins
Why do dolphins and cetaceans run aground? Why do they commit mass "suicides"? There can be several answers here, and it's up to you to decide which one is correct.
- Many scientists believe that the conscious death of dolphins is a consequence of health problems. The ocean is polluted, and every year more and more. But after all, there were suicides of whales and dolphins before, even in the Middle Ages. By the way, some scientists say that perhaps it is not necessary to save mammals that end up on the shore?
- Professor Belkovich, who works at the Russian Research Institute of Oceanology, believes that there is an instinct for mutual assistance here: when trouble happens to one dolphin, the entire group, hearing the SOS signal, rushes to the rescue of one - and dies. His guess is that the dolphin is sick, and the sick one wants support from the pack. And if he is aground, then the whole flock rushes after him.
- Many species of cetaceans are very sensitive to the operation of sonar. According to Professor Belkovich, dolphins are simply destroyed by sonar, they lose acoustic control, and as a result, they lose their orientation, cease to perceive signals. In a familiar environment, these mammals, with the help of signals, are able to distinguish between what is in front of them: earth, stone, food. If they lose echo control, it's a disaster for them. In 2000, near the Bahamas, the exercises of the American fleet took place - at the same time there was a case of the death of dolphins. Studies were carried out on the bodies of dead dolphins, as a result of which it was concluded that they died from decompression sickness. Decompression (caisson) sickness is a disease of pilots and divers. This disease occurs when there is a sharp decrease in environmental pressure.
- Now there are devices that muffle their work, block the work of electronic equipment, perhaps the latest case in New Zealand is a consequence of this?
- It is known that cetaceans have lived in the same environment for millions of years. Humans colonize the shores by invading and destroying the habitual habitats of the animals. Dolphins wash up on the shore in places where many people live. People spend their time on the beaches and on the coast as their lifestyle has changed. In other words, there are too many people on the planet.
But these are all just assumptions, no one knows the exact reason for the suicide of dolphins. In the video, a story about how black dolphins massively washed ashore in New Zealand.
Continue to the coast of the South Island of New Zealand. On February 11, about 200 more animals washed up on land near Cape Farewell. Several hundred volunteers and rescuers continue to work on the coast, trying to redirect the animals from the coast to the open sea. Also at the site of the mass death of dolphins, about 100 volunteers organized a human chain to stop those mammals that are trying to get closer to land, Radio New Zealand reports.
Security officer natural resources Mike Ogle said that the department's specialists are trying to establish the cause of the mass release of pilot whales on land. Experts do not exclude that the tragedy could have occurred due to the fact that a flock of marine animals was frightened by a shark, since wounds from shark bites were found on the body of one of the dolphins - small but fresh.
At the same time, the head of the marine program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia, Konstantin Zgurovsky, previously noted that dolphins could have thrown themselves onto the coast of New Zealand because of the flock instinct, which forced them to follow their leaders, deafened by seismic surveys or underwater acoustic systems of warships.
Nevertheless, netizens believe that the New Zealand government is simply hiding the true cause of the mass death of dolphins. They are convinced that the reason for the beaching of animals is the use of military sonar stations and air guns, which are used for seismic exploration and oil prospecting - low-frequency sounds harm many underwater inhabitants, but primarily they cause brain hemorrhage in whales and dolphins, which also use low frequencies for information exchange.
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