Why Whales Beach themselves?

Why whales beach themselves?

Why whales beach themselves? It is the usual question that public asks when they see dead whales in their beaches. The question continues until the Municipal Corporation burry the whale or it washed back to the sea, but doubt remains until you see the next whale. This article is written in order to educate the general public on whale beaching.

In science, through research, we can find out possible reasons for many of our doubts by conducting systematic experiments. There are some issues which cannot be researched easily, but based on the available knowledge base, we can predict the causative agents and derive inferences. In case of whales, many field studies have been conducted on their migratory, breeding, feeding behavior and growth pattern. But whale beaching remains still a complex issue.

About whales, you might have seen in televisions or read in books. But, if you continue to know more and more, the exiting world opens. Just born whale weighs around 1-2 t and measures about 12-15 feet. When it attains maturity at the age of 8-10 years, it will reach 35-50 feet with 25-30 t. The tongue of blue whale is as big as an elephant. They live up to 200 years. They feed plankton using baleen plates which are situated below their mouth. But killer whales eat squids, octopus, turtles and other fishes. Once when the bow head whale was dissected, harpoon was found which was used in 1890 war. Bow head whales migrate 10-12 thousand kilo meters in a year for breeding purpose. They attain maturity between 10-12 year of age and they breed once in 2-3 years. The babies drink 200-400 l of milk/day.

Very recently, people of Mangalore region have witnessed dead whales in Ullal, Penambur, Mukka amd Malpe beaches. Though there are records of whale beaching way back in 300 BC, their number is increased in the recent past which is undoubtedly due to human intervention. Even though, there are not many studies on their beaching behavior, based on scientific observations and statistics, there are some logical assumptions. The twelve possible reasons for whale beaching are listed below:

1.     Damage by ships, boats and other instruments: Globally more than 50,000 ships travel across the world. And there are thousands of mechanized boats operate with 200 nautical miles. If the whales met with an accidents during their migration, they may lose balance and reach the shore

2.     Aquatic Pollution: Many industries discharge huge quantity of harmful chemicals. Over 50,400 ships move around internationally. The accidents of crude oil carrying ships and discharge of oils from offshore oil rigs pollute the large are of the sea. To escape the pollution, they travel in an unwilling direction and accidentally they come out of water. Once they come out, they cannot pull themselves back. The sudden change temperature and dehydration become fatal.

3.     Sonar: According some scientists, the man made sonars affects their biological communication and end up in beaches accidentally.

4.     General Diseases: Even whales do have health issues like human beings. During their illness, they lose balance and reach beaches

5.     Fear of other aquatic animals: Sometimes to escape the attack of sharks and other mammals of the sea, they miss the group and travel in wrong direction.

6.     Consumption of Harmful Chemicals: During their filter feeding, whales might consume harmful chemical and other substances and die. The dead ones float to the beaches

7.     Biological Magnetic Field: Based on the biological magnetic field calculation, they migrate in a set pattern in the sea. That’s how the Atlantic Ocean, whales reach Gujarat coast for breeding and the calves migrate back to feeding zone. Sometime due to many human intervention and natural phenomenon, they lose the accuracy and reach wrong destination which shallow and fatal.

8.     Pneumonia: Though whales live in aquatic system they breathe atmospheric air. They gasp the air from the hole on the head region and remain under water for hours. During this process, accidentally if the water gets into lungs, they do suffer from pneumonia disease and die.

9.     Global Warming: Due to global warming and glacier ice melting, the physical and chemical parameters are affected and their feeding and breeding zones are shifted. This might make them to travel in wrong directions

10.  Already Dead Whales: Any dead whales for any reason might end up in beaches. If the cost is far, then they may decompose and sink to bottom.

11.  Loneliness: Whales live in groups. During the migration, the lazy and diseased ones many not match the pace of migration and left behind. When they are left alone, they die of loneliness. Due to poor scientific base, many think that this is a hypothesis; but it cannot be overruled.

12.  The Twelfth and the last reason deadly Human Beings: Though whale killing is banned in the entire world, in some countries, kill whales for food, fun and the liver oil.

Whales Program in India

To protect whales in India, they are many nonprofit organizations working to create awareness among all stakeholders. Everyone have their own guidelines and Whale Protection Acts. The whales from Atlantic Ocean migrate 4000 km and reach Gujarat coast for breeding. In order to protect the whales, Gujarat Government in collaboration with Tata Chemicals, Wild Life Trust of India jointly initiated a Whale protection program. They call them “Valli” means granddaughter. To create awareness among community, street plays, meetings are conducted at regular intervals. Incentives for not killing, giving award and a certificate of appreciation for releasing the whales back into the sea are also part of the program which is appreciated by fishermen community. Any person who reads this article is requested to take few minutes of their time and educate their family and children. Protect whales, protect nature and protect yourself.