In what is believed to be the worst fatal mass stranding in the UK, investigators are facing a race against time to determine the cause of a tragic incident that unfolded on a Scottish beach. A pod of 55 pilot whales became stranded on Traigh Mhor beach at North Tolsta on the Isle of Lewis in the morning of July 16, with only 15 of them still alive.
Efforts were made to save the survivors, but unfortunately, one of the whales become stranded again. Due to welfare concerns, the remaining animals had to be euthanized. The BBC has reported that this event marks the highest number of deaths resulting from a mass stranding of animals in the UK.
The reason behind the whales' stranding is currently under investigation. One theory is that it may have been triggered by a birthing complication among the whales. As pilot whales have strong social bonds, when one of them encounters trouble, the others often follow suit. While this has not yet been confirmed, a similar incident involving a stranding was reported in Skye back in 2015.
The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) has initiated an urgent effort to conduct post-mortems on a selected number of animals in order to establish the cause of this tragic event. However, due to the large number of whales involved, it is impossible to assess all of them thoroughly.
Just arrived at Stornoway to investigate what seems to be the largest fatal mass #stranding event we've had in Scotland for decades. Over fifty #PilotWhales sadly confirmed dead. pic.twitter.com/bOKTnrqD8l
— SMASS (@strandings) July 16, 2023
Dr. Andrew Brownlow, the Director of SMASS, spoke with the BBC about the challenging task at hand.
"It's going to be a monumental task. There are more animals sadly which are awaiting necropsy now than all of the mass strandings put together for the last decade," he expressed.
The team plans to prioritize certain animals that they believe best represent the rest of the pod and gather samples and data from them. However, time, energy, and weather pose significant challenges in their race to uncover what transpired.
Dr. Brownlow emphasized that while human impact, such as underwater noise or interaction with fishing gear, will be investigated, it is essential to recognize that pilot whale strandings have occurred for centuries. Not all strandings are necessarily due to human influence. He also highlighted the importance of this grim task.
"From the process of examining these animals, we can learn a lot about the threats and pressures that affect not just the animals in our waters but globally. So I think there is some value in doing this," he stated.
As investigators work tirelessly to identify the cause of this devastating mass stranding, their findings may contribute to a better understanding of the challenges marine animals face, potentially leading to improved conservation efforts and the preservation of these remarkable creatures in our oceans.
Comments (0)