Pod Of Sperm Whales Beached Dead On UK East Coast

Stupid whales

Sperm whales stranded in UK may be part of beached German and Dutch pods

Five sperm whales stranded on the east coast of England were probably from the same pods as the 12 that washed up on coastlines in Germany and the Netherlands, according to the lead pathologist examining the Lincolnshire whales.

Rob Deaville, project manager at the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, said it was “reasonable to assume” that the pods entered the North Sea together in the hunt for food.

“The question that’s left still hanging is why they came in the North Sea in the first place and whether the French, the German events are all connected in some way,” he said on Tuesday.

“I think it’s reasonable to assume that the pods – because there can be more than one pod – came in at the same time, given the spatial and temporal stranding events. I think that’s a reasonable assumption to make.”

Five of the male sperm whales had not eaten for some time when they became stranded in shallow waters around Skegness and Norfolk over the weekend and later died. Another 12 had washed up on the Dutch island of Texel and the German islands of Wangerooge and Helgoland since 11 January.

[link to www.theguardian.com]

Last Edited by Dr_Doom on 01/26/2016 09:49 AM