NEWS: At Least 22 Pilot Whales Beach in N.C., page 1

In Manteo, North Carolina, 22 whales beached themselves on Saturday. The whales were on the northern Outer Banks, near Oregon Inlet on a five mile stretch of land. Most of the beached whales - at least 17 of them thus far - have died. The NOAA is having difficulty counting the beached whales due to fluctuating sea conditions. Scientists say they don't know why they beached themselves.

---

With all the beachings lately, I wonder what the cause is. Could it be seismic testing, sonar used by submarines? How about the big earthquakes recently? Scientists still say they don't know why the dolphins and whales are beaching themselves. Some have suggested that the seismic testing they use, to search for oil is causing it. Others just say it happens all the time. To me it seems that it happens more around quakes and sonar or electromagnetics (EM),(ELF)?

Before this NC beaching there were several other beachings in the last month or so. Here's some of them,
twenty adult female sperm whales washed up on a remote Australian beach, the third such mass stranding in the same area in a month. Tue Dec 27, huge earthquake recorded between Tasmania and Antarctica last week. In two separate beachings in Tasmania, 115 long-finned pilot whales died. Nov 29, A pod of 17 whales and 50 pilot whales were also reported stranded on Maria Island.

Could the tilt of the earth being thrown off by the Dec 26th Earthquake affect the whales? One report shows the whales are getting the bends, from swimming up to fast after a blast underwater. I have posted about this in my Tsunami thread.


Related News Links:
www.cnn.com
news.yahoo.com
www.news24.com


[edit on 17-1-2005 by Banshee]

This is from Wikipedia:

Mass whale beachings do occur naturally amongst many species and in fact the frequency and size of beachings around the world, recorded over the last 1000 years in religious tracts and more recently in scientific surveys, has been used to estimate the changing population size of various whale species by assuming that the proportion of the total whale population beaching in any one year is constant. Despite the concerns raised about sonar which may invalidate this assumption, this population estimate technique is still popular today.

I have posted in my Tsunami thread, a article about how sonar is connected with these Whale beachings.

the.honoluluadvertiser.com...
-The new research from the Canary Islands suggests two possible ways in which the whales could be harmed by the gas bubbles. One is similar to how humans get the bends: that the whales panic at the sound of the loud sonar noises and rise too quickly from deep water. As they rise, nitrogen bubbles can be formed from the rapid change in pressure and cause the bends.

The other hypothesis involves bubble formation caused directly by the sonar on gas nuclei, or bubble "precursors," in whale tissues already highly saturated with nitrogen.

-We know there is a connection between military sonar and strandings, and now we're making progress on the physical mechanism causing them, said Joel Reynolds, an attorney with the National Resources Defense Council, which sued the government over the low-frequency sonar. This is very compelling scientific evidence.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Do you have any evidence that these whales were exposed to any man-made sonar?

I personally don't have evidence. The scientists doing research on the whale beachings say it's connected to sonar from the military and from corperrate oil companies doing seismic testing.

news.nationalgeographic.com...

Military Sonar May Give Whales the Bends, Study Says

John Roach
for National Geographic News

October 8, 2003
Undersea noise from naval exercises appears to give beaked whales the bends, an ailment most commonly associated with scuba divers who rise to the ocean surface too quickly, according to a new study.

The finding comes from autopsies performed on beaked whales that stranded themselves on beaches in the Canary Islands four hours after military sonar activities commenced there September 24, 2002. The research is reported in the October 9 issue of Nature.

Here's a report from 2000

www.earthwatch.org...
Whale Strandings Point to Navy Sonar Testing
Data collected by Earthwatch-supported scientist Ken Balcomb may yield concrete evidence linking sonar testing to the stranding of 16 cetaceans in the Bahamas.

The Bahamas Thanks to quick action by researchers Ken Balcomb and Diane Claridge and their Earthwatch team, they recorded the strandings of 16 cetaceans, and were able to gather what may prove to be vital data in one of the largest controversies now being debated. The controversy involves testing by the United States Navy of a new very-low-frequency, very loud sonar that they hope will allow them to detect a new generation of extremely quiet submarines. Low frequency active sonar (LFAS) travels far underwater, but to do so, it requires pulses of sound exponentially louder (235 decibels) than marine mammals normally hear. Therein lies the controversy. Environmentalists and many scientists are concerned that such loud sounds could damage or disorient whales and dolphins. The navy, which so far has spent $350 million on the system, contends that it has tested the process for just this concern, and found no effect.

Balcomb’s data may help resolve the question. The navy conducted tests of the controversial sonar in the Bahamas on March 15th, and that day and the next, Balcomb and his crew found or learned of 16 cetaceans of four different species that had beached themselves on three different islands. Rescuers were able to save all but seven of the animals, and, from six that died, Balcomb and Claridge were able to collect fresh tissue samples, including their sensitive earbones, which can help determine the cause of the beachings.

www.cnn.com...
Low-frequency sonar raises whale advocates' hackles

www.underwatertimes.com...
Whale News Archive - several stories on beached whales

www.ldeo.columbia.edu...
Case Studies in Earth & Environmental Science Journalism

www.nrdc.org...
Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar
-The use of the biggest gun in the U.S. Navy's active-sonar arsenal, a low-frequency system known as SURTASS LFA, was restricted in a 2003 agreement with an NRDC-led coalition of wildlife advocates. But the fight is hardly over; the Bush administration is now appealing the legal victory that compelled the Navy into compromise. Meanwhile, other nations are developing LFA-type systems of their own. And sonar testing in coastal waters -- using the same mid-frequency systems that have been implicated in numerous strandings of whales -- is actually on the rise, putting more and more marine mammals and fisheries at risk.

Here's an update:

At Least 34 Whales Dead

Scientists and National Park Service workers were working Sunday to collect samples and clean up whale carcasses after 34 of the marine mammals beached themselves and either died or had to be euthanized.

Dozens of whales beached themselves early Saturday along a five-mile stretch of coastline near Oregon Inlet, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Twenty-four pilot whales died, and another seven were euthanized because they were suffering, the National Park Service reported.

A single minke whale was found dead in Corolla, the Virginian-Pilot reported. Two pygmy sperm whales turned up Sunday morning near Buxton one already dead, and one so sick that it also had to be euthanized, NOAA Fisheries biologist Barbie Byrd said.

"We're hoping that this is all of them," she said.

Very interesting.

This year whale and dolphin beachings have occured numerously, with many explanations given.

One was:

Research shows cyclical westerly and southerly winds pushed sub-Antarctic waters north, drawing colder, nutrient-rich waters needed by whales and dolphins closer to the surface.

www.abc.net.au...

Something similar could be an explanation for the strandings of the 34 pilot whales.

Another possibilty is that these whales were effected by "sound bombing", a technique used by companies to locate underwater sources of oil and gas.

The whales and dolphins are not the only sea creatures being killed. Giant squid are also washing up. These squids live in the deep ocean in cold water. According to scientists, they usually only see one dead squid a year on the coast of Spain, but there have been more deaths in recent years.

www.newscientist.com...

One of the oceans’ most mysterious animals, the giant squid, may be being killed by human noises. Unusually high numbers of dead giant squid, washed up on Spanish shores, have led scientists to believe that loud, low-frequency sounds made by oil companies charting the sea bed are killing the creatures.

Fear of damage to marine mammals has resulted in restrictions on low-frequency marine noise in the US, and awareness of the issue in Europe is growing. NATO exercises with high-intensity sonar in 2002 were charged with harming beaked whales in the Canary Islands. Norway rejected demands by environmentalists to limit seismic surveys off the Lofoten Islands in 2003.

Now the giant squid has joined the list of potential victims. The animals grow up to 20 metres in length and are found in deep, cold waters worldwide. Little more is known about them as efforts to observe them in their native habitat have failed, and scientists recorded only dead, stranded specimens.

Normally, only one giant squid per year is found along the coast of Spain, says Angel Guerra of the Institute for Marine Investigations in Vigo, Spain.


[edit on 18-1-2005 by Ycon]

Look what was in the area around the time the whales beached themselves. Hmmmm electromagnetic waves?

www.kittyhawkfreepress.com...
www.kittyhawkfreepress.com...
U.S.S. Teddy Roosevelt, has been doing military maneuvers in this area for several days. The battle group is usually composed of an Aircraft Carrier, Destroyer Guided-missile cruisers USS Anzio (CG 68) and USS Cape St. George (CG 71), guided guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), USS Porter (DDG 78) and USS Winston Churchill (DDG 81); destroyer USS Stump (DD 978); guided-missile frigate USS Carr (FFG 52); fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8); and two attack submarines. It is not known for sure at this time if the military ships in the area had an affect on the whales that would have driven them to shore.


[edit on 18-1-2005 by Ycon]

Russian scientists reach buried Antarctic Lake Vostok
  Posted 3 days ago with 83 member flags

Google announces privacy settings change across products; users can\'t opt out
  Posted 16 days ago with 78 member flags

Monsanto quits as GM results announced (EUROPE)
  Posted 5 days ago with 72 member flags

Strange noises reported around North Battleford
  Posted 16 days ago with 67 member flags

FDA\'s New Claim: "Your Body Is a Drug—and We Have the Authority to Regulate It"
  Posted 8 days ago with 53 member flags

Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel
  Posted 4 days ago with 49 member flags

BREAKING: Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran\'s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC
  Posted 1 days ago with 48 member flags

Bill Gates Backs Climate Scientists Lobbying For Large-Scale Geoengineering
  Posted 3 days ago with 40 member flags

Newest topics, updated in real-time:

Newest topics getting flags, in real-time:

Newest topics getting replies, in real-time: