{"id":39799,"date":"2024-07-12T13:38:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T11:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/528c252f-4dfb-4ad5-b470-7147b10e7c07"},"modified":"2024-07-12T15:28:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T13:28:47","slug":"77-pilot-whales-die-in-orkney-in-one-of-the-most-tragic-mass-strandings-in-scottish-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/77-pilot-whales-die-in-orkney-in-one-of-the-most-tragic-mass-strandings-in-scottish-history\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a077 pilot whales die in Orkney in one of the most tragic mass strandings in Scottish history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only 12\u00a0animals were still alive when rescuers arrived to one of the worst strandings in Scottish history, but\u00a0sadly they couldn’t be saved <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Friday, 12 July 2024 at 11:38 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Trained marine\u00a0medics from the\u00a0British Divers Ma<\/a>rine Life Rescue (BDMLR)\u00a0raced to <\/a>Orkney on 11 July 2024 after the alarm was raised that 77 pilot whales had stranded. Sadly when they arrived they found only 12\u00a0animals still alive.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

\u201cOn arrival, the Medics found there to be about 77 animals high up the beach, having evidently been stranded for several hours already. Sadly, only 12 of them still alive at this point,\u201d says the BDMLR on its website.\u00a0<\/p>

When a mass stranding like this happens, BDMLR volunteers triage the surviving whales\u00a0to\u00a0save as many as possible. But\u00a0these aquatic mammals can deteriorate quickly when\u00a0they find themselves on land.\u00a0<\/p>

Despite their best efforts, the remaining pilot whales had to be euthanised for welfare reasons.\u00a0The hours spent out of the water\u00a0had caused\u00a0\u201ccrush injury from their own weight and the high likelihood that they have inhaled water with the incoming tide,\u201d says the BDMLR, adding that they were sinking into the soft sand which meant they couldn\u2019t refloat themselves.\u00a0<\/p>

Pilot whales<\/a>\u00a0live in pods of between 10 and 100\u00a0individuals. They are highly social and have\u00a0close\u00a0bonds with their pod mates. This\u00a0may be the reason they are particularly susceptible to mass strandings\u00a0\u2013\u00a0because the pod\u00a0is so tight-knit, they all stay together\u00a0when one whale is sick or gets lost,\u00a0which can lead to them all getting into trouble\u00a0and stranding.<\/p>

The reason for this mass stranding \u2013 one of the worst in Scottish history \u2013 is currently unknown.\u00a0<\/p>

Experts from the\u00a0 Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS)<\/a>\u00a0will now try to\u00a0conduct post-mortems on as many of the whales as possible to try to find out the cause. The BDLMR adds that \u201cthere are no obvious indications as to why they all stranded today, and it may be some time before full results are available due to the huge task of conducting these examinations.\u201d<\/p>

Melissa Hobson is a trained BDMLR volunteer<\/em><\/p>

Image of stranding @ BDML<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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