Scientists look for cause of mass strandings
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 Posted: 9:17 AM EST (1417 GMT)

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Scientists and wildlife officials continued to search on Tuesday for what may have caused a series of mass strandings which left 169 whales and dolphins dead on Australian and New Zealand beaches in the past three days.

Authorities and volunteers worked through Monday night to save dozens of whales and dolphins after three separate beachings in Australia and New Zealand.

By Tuesday, 96 long-finned pilot whales and bottle-nosed dolphins had died after the first beaching on Sunday at King Island, midway between the Australian mainland and the southern island state of Tasmania.

Tasmanian wildlife officer Shane Hunniford said another 19 long-finned pilot whales had died in a separate beaching on Monday on Maria Island, 60 km (37 miles) east of the Tasmanian capital Hobart.

He said 43 whales had beached themselves on Maria Island but officials had managed to save 24 that had been found alive.

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, a mass grave was dug on a beach at Opoutere, 100 km (62 miles) east of Auckland on the North Island, for 53 dead pilot whales. Officials said 73 whales had become stranded there on Sunday, but 20 were saved.

Of those 20, more were expected to die because many were too weak to follow the others out to sea.

"Some of them had suffered pretty significantly on the beach," New Zealand conservation department manager John Gaukrodger told reporters.

Later on Tuesday, a 33-foot (10-meter) sperm whale washed up on a beach west of Auckland. Officials said they were not sure if the whale had died at sea and washed up or had stranded itself. They said it was not linked to the Opoutere beaching.

Hunniford said it was unlikely there was any connection between the Australian and New Zealand beachings, with the mass strandings no more than just unfortunate coincidences.

"If you look at spaceship Earth, Tasmania and New Zealand both stick out into the Southern Ocean and that's a playground for whales and dolphins," Hunniford told Reuters.

"There are a number of theories. We're not pinning our hat on any of them," he said of the Tasmanian beachings.

The Australian government also said on Tuesday that it would establish a national database on whale strandings.

"We are not sure why these tragedies happen but it's important that we coordinate existing scientific work to establish the reasons why these creatures become stranded," Environment Minister Ian Campbell said in a statement.

Bob Brown, leader of Australia's Greens party, said earlier on Tuesday that ocean seismic tests for oil and gas should be stopped until the whale migration season ends.

Brown, a senator in the Australian parliament, said "sound bombing" of ocean floors to test for oil and gas had been carried out near the sites of the Tasmanian beachings recently.

He said in a statement that research data on the possible impact of such practices on marine life was inconclusive. Source.

I'm confused.  I thought dolphins were just as smart as humans

This might sound cold-blooded, but I really don't care if a bunch of animals beach themselves.   I hope they can make a lot of glue out of those whales.
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I'm confused. I thought dolphins were just as smart as humans

I blame the jellyfish, they make a mess everywhere and make navigation difficult...

A marine biologist from the International University of the Sea believes scientists may be able to prevent future whale and dolphin strandings by studying the affect of earthquakes.

Biologist Eric Mitran, based in Queensland, thinks there is a link between recent earth tremors in New Zealand and Tasmania and three strandings in the areas this week which caused the deaths of more than 150 whales and dolphins.

He says migrating animals, like birds and marine animals, follow magnetic field lines on the sea's surface which could be modified during an earthquake, throwing them off course.

"If there is a slight modification of these magnetic field lines, they just follow the grade and not the land which means that following the grade they can strand anywhere, if there is an obstacle on the normal route they would follow," he said.

"It could be possible to predict whether they would drift south, north, east or west and in this case try to drive them a bit like a sheep, try to drive them to avoid the bad area."

Dr Mitran doubts seismic testing for oil and gas could affect the magnetic field lines.

"This modification of the magnetic field lines are coming from movements of the deep core of the earth and I don't think any sort of human activity - this type of activity whatsoever - really affects the centre and the core itself," he said. Source.