Whale Strandings – Additional Thoughts – Saturday 16th September 2023
Whale Strandings – Additional Thoughts – Saturday 16th September 2023
It’s reasonable to presume that multiple factors provoke whale and dolphin Strandings which includes accidental strandings. The strandings that aren’t accidental all have a cause of some description. My focus just now is the Pilot whales who form a huddle prior to stranding, as well as any other whale/dolphin groups who exhibit this behaviour prior to stranding.
This isn’t a learned or rote type behaviour, it’s a behaviour of expression from a severe distress, I feel quite certain of that.
Re my previous writing on this, I feel it is food related.
In the overhead photo of the huddle group of Pilot whales we see all sizes, young and old and none look well fed to me. They aren’t emaciated, but still appear lean. Long before emaciation however, energy levels would be very low I should think and having to swim and propel, look for food, watch over the young, evade predators etcetera, would require essential and plentiful levels of energy.
The previous news article regarding the beached Pilot whales in WA did mention at the time there were Orcas in the vicinity. I think we can assume that each of these groups would have been aware of each other’s presence. This may have been the catalyst for the weary Pilot whales to beach.
Although I have read that Orca are fearful of Pilot whales, this may be so for some Orca, but I also read an article describing an Orca pod that kept interfering with a Pilot whale group who would chase the Orca off only to have the Orca turn back around and interfere with them again and be chased off again. This doesn’t indicate to me a fear of Pilot whales, it actually indicated a tactic of tiring the Pilot whale group in order to make them an easier target.
Orca that eat meat, will kill and eat whales and are not limited to seals.
Apparently New Zealand has a lot of Strandings and it occurred to me that as well as the distress for whales and humans with these events, it’s also costly. It may seem simplistic but to test my theory, and I realise that a large quantity of Pilot whales favourite food would be costly, but if an opportunity arises and a huddle forms, boat a load of said food, with experts overseeing and if the Pilot whales eat and don’t strand, then we can know to adjust fishing quotas and rotate fishing areas accordingly.
Favourite food because if they’ve not found food for few days it needs to be food that will stimulate their ability to eat. It’s worth a try.
Fiona MacLeod (C)