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An entire pod of 55 pilot whales was found washed ashore in Scotland on Sunday morning, the BBC reported. Marine experts say it is the worst mass whale stranding in the area, leaving the monumental task of examining the whales and disposing of the bodies.
At about 7:00 Sunday morning, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) received a report from police that around 55 pilot whales had washed onto Traigh Mhor beach at North Tolsta on the Isle of Lewis. Only 15 remained alive, which were attended to by local Marine Mammal Medics.
There were attempts to re-float two of the more active whales that were still in the water on the outgoing tide. One of the whales subsequently re-stranded and died, but the other survived. During this time, another three whales perished, leaving 12 still alive: eight adults and four calves.
However, by then it was too late to save the remaining animals. As the BDMLR press release states, “At about 3:30 p.m., the local vet along with the Coastguard, Fire and Rescue, and a forensics vet came to the conclusion that the shallow beach and rough wave conditions made it too unsafe to re-float the remaining animals. Considering how long the pilot whales had been out of the water in addition to the poor conditions, it was decided that they should be euthanized on welfare grounds.”
Though researchers are just beginning the monumental task of examining the dead whales, early evidence indicates what may have caused the stranding. “One of the dead whales appeared to have had a vaginal prolapse – so it’s currently suspected that the whole pod stranded due to one female giving birth,” wrote BDMLR. “Pilot whales are notorious for their strong social bonds, so often when one whale gets into difficulty and strands, the rest follow.”
The post mortem examinations will be handled by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), led by veterinary pathologist Dr Andrew Brownlow. However, they will be unable to examine all 55 whales.
“It’s going to be a monumental task,” Brownlow told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland “There are more animals sadly which are awaiting necropsy now than all of the mass strandings put together for the last decade.
“What we will try and do is triage these animals – we will select those animals that we think best represent the rest of the pod and make sure that we take samples and as much data that we can. Then 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.”
