Grieving Pilot Whales?

[longknife]

Makes one wonder if they really have emotions.



More pix and story @ Photo: Whale carries dead calf in its mouth while grieving over death

 

[waltky]

Beaked whales confirmed living in Pacific...

Testing Confirms New, Rarely Seen Whale in Pacific Ocean
July 28, 2016 — Genetic tests confirm that a mysterious, unnamed species of beaked whale only rarely seen alive by Japanese fishermen roams the northern Pacific Ocean, according to research published this week.

The testing shows the black whales, with bulbous heads and beaks like porpoises, are not dwarf varieties of more common Baird's beaked whales, a slate-gray animal. Japanese researchers sampled three black beaked whales that washed up on the north coast of Hokkaido, the country's most northern island, and wrote about them in a 2013 paper. The challenge to confirm the existence of the new animal was finding enough specimens from a wider area for testing and matching genetic samples, said Phillip Morin, a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration research molecular biologist. He and his team uncovered five other whales, all found in Alaska, that matched the species found in Japan.

'Much to learn'

“Clearly this species is very rare and reminds us how much we have to learn about the ocean and even some of its largest inhabitants,'' he said in an announcement. The largest beaked whale varieties can reach 40 feet and spend up to 90 minutes underwater hunting for squid in deep water. They are hard to research because they may spend only a few minutes at the surface, Morin said by phone Thursday. They rarely breach, travel in small numbers and blend into their surroundings. Japanese fishermen reported occasionally seeing a smaller, black beaked whale that they called “karasu,'' the Japanese word for raven, or “kuru tsuchi,'' black Baird's beaked whale.

This undated illustration provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southwest Fisheries Science Center shows a species of beaked whale.​

The Japanese researchers in 2013 were limited in declaring that they had found a new species because their three samples were from one location, said Morin, who works at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Research Center in San Diego. “My first idea was to go to our collection, where we have the largest collection of cetacean samples in the world,'' he said. In a paper published Tuesday in the journal Marine Mammal Science, Morin and fellow authors describe analyzing 178 beaked whale specimens from around the Pacific Rim. They found five that matched with the Japanese whales.

The oldest was a skull in the Smithsonian Institution recovered from the Aleutians in 1948 and formerly thought to be a Baird's beaked whale. Another specimen discovered in Alaska was in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. The Southwest Fisheries Science Center had tissue from a whale found floating in the Bering Sea. It also had tissue from a black beaked whale stranded on Unalaska Island in the Aleutians in 2004. Local teachers and students had photographed and measured the animal, and its skeleton was put on display at Unalaska High School.

More questions than answers

 

[waltky]

Mass whale stranding in Australia...

Nearly 150 beached whales die after mass stranding in Australia
March 23,`18 - More than 150 short-finned pilot whales stranded themselves Thursday on the southwestern tip of Australia, stunning parks officials and prompting a massive rescue effort to save as many as possible.

The mass beaching likely took place sometime Wednesday night to early Thursday morning, local time, at Hamelin Bay in Western Australia, according to the state's parks and wildlife service. Videos of the scene showed dozens of the animals piled against each other on the shore, many with their tails still wiggling, as onlookers expressed concern. Some whales were fully on dry land, while others were in shallow waters. It's unclear exactly when the distressed animals were discovered — but by 9:30 a.m., about 75 of the whales had died, the parks service said. Officials soon shut the beach down, issued a shark alert for the area and rushed equipment and trained volunteers to the site to try to return the pilot whales to deeper water. “The strength of the animals and the windy and possibly wet weather conditions will affect when and where we attempt to move them out to sea,” Jeremy Chick, incident controller for the parks and wildlife service, said at the time. “The main objectives are to ensure the safety of staff and volunteers as well as the whales' greatest chance of survival.”

Only 15 of the 150 short-finned pilot whales stranded at Hamelin Bay are still alive. Parks and Wildlife Service staff with veterinary assistance and support of Sea Search and Rescue trained volunteers are working to ensure the welfare of the surviving whales. pic.twitter.com/Ls86Y9hTx6
— Parks and Wildlife (@WAParksWildlife) March 23, 2018

[video]https://videos.posttv.com/washpost-...fd55s_t_1521804169887_640_360_600.mp4[/video]​

Despite their efforts, by noon, dozens more had died, leaving only 15 of the stranded whales alive. By 4 p.m., that number had dwindled to seven surviving whales. The rocky beach terrain and rough seas — as well as the now dozens of dead whales surrounding the live ones — were hampering rescue efforts most, officials said then. “The conditions are challenging, but we are doing all we can to give these animals the best chance of survival without risking the safety of staff and volunteers,” Chick said, noting they would try to use boats to move the surviving animals to deeper water. “Once we have moved the whales out we will monitor the situation closely as it is possible the whales will come back into shore and re-strand,” he said. “This has often been the case in previous mass strandings.”

At 7 p.m., the parks and wildlife service announced that all of the surviving pilot whales — six at final count — had at last been returned to deeper water. A photo of the scene showed a line of dark whale carcasses dividing the otherwise pristine beach and clear water. There are numerous theories for why mass beachings happen — though the phenomenon has taken place for centuries, as documented by age-old engravings and paintings. Whales and dolphins are both cetaceans. They're social animals that travel in close-knit pods, and some scientists believe they can become stranded en masse if the dominant member leads the group too close to shore while chasing prey or becoming disoriented, according to Live Science. Environmental groups have also argued that sonar — used to map the ocean floor or for military purposes — can trigger mass strandings in dolphins and whales, who can be sensitive to underwater noises. The Western Australia parks service notes that short-finned pilot whales are particularly susceptible to getting stranded, citing two previous mass beachings that took place nearby in 1984 and 1991.

MORE

 

[whitehall]

I've seen a female dog carry around a dead puppy so why is it so strange.

 

[WinterBorn]

If you do not believe animals have emotions, you haven't spent enough time around animals.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Mass whale stranding in Australia...

Nearly 150 beached whales die after mass stranding in Australia
March 23,`18 - More than 150 short-finned pilot whales stranded themselves Thursday on the southwestern tip of Australia, stunning parks officials and prompting a massive rescue effort to save as many as possible.

The mass beaching likely took place sometime Wednesday night to early Thursday morning, local time, at Hamelin Bay in Western Australia, according to the state's parks and wildlife service. Videos of the scene showed dozens of the animals piled against each other on the shore, many with their tails still wiggling, as onlookers expressed concern. Some whales were fully on dry land, while others were in shallow waters. It's unclear exactly when the distressed animals were discovered — but by 9:30 a.m., about 75 of the whales had died, the parks service said. Officials soon shut the beach down, issued a shark alert for the area and rushed equipment and trained volunteers to the site to try to return the pilot whales to deeper water. “The strength of the animals and the windy and possibly wet weather conditions will affect when and where we attempt to move them out to sea,” Jeremy Chick, incident controller for the parks and wildlife service, said at the time. “The main objectives are to ensure the safety of staff and volunteers as well as the whales' greatest chance of survival.”

Only 15 of the 150 short-finned pilot whales stranded at Hamelin Bay are still alive. Parks and Wildlife Service staff with veterinary assistance and support of Sea Search and Rescue trained volunteers are working to ensure the welfare of the surviving whales. pic.twitter.com/Ls86Y9hTx6
— Parks and Wildlife (@WAParksWildlife) March 23, 2018

[video]https://videos.posttv.com/washpost-...fd55s_t_1521804169887_640_360_600.mp4[/video]​

Despite their efforts, by noon, dozens more had died, leaving only 15 of the stranded whales alive. By 4 p.m., that number had dwindled to seven surviving whales. The rocky beach terrain and rough seas — as well as the now dozens of dead whales surrounding the live ones — were hampering rescue efforts most, officials said then. “The conditions are challenging, but we are doing all we can to give these animals the best chance of survival without risking the safety of staff and volunteers,” Chick said, noting they would try to use boats to move the surviving animals to deeper water. “Once we have moved the whales out we will monitor the situation closely as it is possible the whales will come back into shore and re-strand,” he said. “This has often been the case in previous mass strandings.”

At 7 p.m., the parks and wildlife service announced that all of the surviving pilot whales — six at final count — had at last been returned to deeper water. A photo of the scene showed a line of dark whale carcasses dividing the otherwise pristine beach and clear water. There are numerous theories for why mass beachings happen — though the phenomenon has taken place for centuries, as documented by age-old engravings and paintings. Whales and dolphins are both cetaceans. They're social animals that travel in close-knit pods, and some scientists believe they can become stranded en masse if the dominant member leads the group too close to shore while chasing prey or becoming disoriented, according to Live Science. Environmental groups have also argued that sonar — used to map the ocean floor or for military purposes — can trigger mass strandings in dolphins and whales, who can be sensitive to underwater noises. The Western Australia parks service notes that short-finned pilot whales are particularly susceptible to getting stranded, citing two previous mass beachings that took place nearby in 1984 and 1991.

MORE

It was because the male whales wouldn't stop and ask for directions......