India has experienced an abnormal number of beached whales this month. A 30-foot dead whale just washed ashore Mumbai’s Juhu beach Thursday night, following a slew of whale carcasses to litter the coast in the past few weeks.^(1,2)

Sources report that night joggers on the beach stumbled across the whale and alerted authorities. The incident comes just weeks after a seaside community in the southern tip of India tried to save dozens of whales that started plaguing the shores.⁽¹⁾

Rescuers from Tiruchendur notified environmental authorities after a bizarre mass casualty gripped the beaches. The fishermen were able to successfully push 36 whales back into the ocean; however, at least 45 beached whales died.⁽²⁾

30-foot dead whale just one among 100 other carcasses

The Times of India claims a minimum of 100 short-finned pilot whales were discovered sprinkled throughout a 10-mile stretch of beach. At the time of the report, fishermen had worked all night to save as many mammals as possible.⁽²⁾

“On Monday evening there were more than a dozen whales beached at many places on the shore,” S. Thiraviyam, a nearby resident, told sources. The fishermen worked from dusk till dawn Tuesday. After being cast back in the ocean, many disoriented whales would beach themselves again, report environmental authorities.⁽²⁾

“The whales started reaching the shore in groups around 5pm [Jan. 11]. It is very strange. In 1973, when we were boys, we witnessed the same phenomenon,” Rajan, a fisherman, disclosed to the Times of India. He added that he did not remember as many whales washing ashore. However, an estimated 147 whales died on the shores of Tamil Nadu that year.⁽²⁾

Scientists remain obfuscated by surge in beached whales

Local environmental authorities are flummoxed by the recent spike in beached whales. Marine biologists are equally bamboozled as to why the whales are washing ashore. Authorities speculate the whales may have traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean to wash ashore Tuticorin.⁽²⁾

Some suggest the beaching in Tuticorin could be a consequence of human activity off the coast, which is next to one of the most frequently used shipping routes across the globe.

“The increase in sound levels from ship traffic, sonic testing and oil drilling interferes with the navigation of the whales which often results in the sort of mass stranding we are seeing in Tamil Nadu,” Siddharth Chakravarty of Sea Shepherd Global, a marine conservation organization, told sources. “Whales are also very social and often entire pods will follow individual whales closer to shore, which can result in the entire pod stranding itself,” she added.⁽¹⁾

Whales are intelligent social creatures

Short-finned pilot whales are convivial creatures. As an extension of the dolphin family, pilot whales have an I.Q. on a par with bottlenose dolphins, and are almost never seen by themselves. In fact, it is precisely because of their pod structures and gregarious nature that whales have an invariable tendency to beach themselves.⁽²⁾

“It’s very strange and we are examining the whales,” forest officer S.A. Raju told the Agence France Presse. “We found some of the whales are still alive and struggling for their lives.”⁽²⁾

Although whales often become stranded, recent mass beachings have puzzled scientists for years. Whales usually travel together in large groups. Sometimes, their “leader” becomes disoriented and kamikazes the whole lot onto a beach.⁽¹⁾

Other “natural” causes for whale beaching include following prey-rich water currents towards land or panicking at the presence of a huge predator, such as a killer whale. Scientists also attribute beaching to gently sloping shorelines that can deceive whales dependent on echolocation for navigation.⁽¹⁾

Sources include:

(1) IndianExpress.com

(2) CSMonitor.com