Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Another Beaching of Whales

We have another incident of hundred over pilot whales stranded on the beach. This time it is in New Zealand. In recent years, such tragic news have been increasing.

There have been many speculations why whales are beaching themselves. One of which is mass suicide. If so, why are they doing it ? As they are intelligent mammals, if we take human as a yard stick, could they be under extreme stress due to increasing human oceanic activities ?

In the documentary movie - The Cove, fishermen created loud din in the sea to disorientate the dolphins driving them onto the shore. Researchers have seen found that dolphins and whales which communicate in ultra sound range with sensitive hearing organs are easily stressed by man-made noises in the ocean.

This is the reason for the on going campaign to free these captive mammals which provide entertainment in oceanic parks, as they suffer from extreme stress due to the noises created by human activities around them. The mortality rate of these mammals in oceanic parks around the whole is very high.

Could the frequent incidents of whales beaching be due to stress ?

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