Over 400 Whales Stranded on Beach
Yesterday, 416 pilot whales washed up on the shores of New Zealand to die. Today rescuers fought to save the lives of the remaining 100 whales after more than three quarters of the animals died, but the struggle was even more difficult given that the whales did not seem to want to return to the water if it meant leaving their pod mates behind.
Unfortunately even more whales came ashore on the remote beach. A completely different pod of 240 whales swam ashore, further puzzling rescuers and scientists alike. Although some explanations have been presented for mass whales engaging in this behavior, the reality is that we still don’t know why they’re doing this. With smaller groups, scientists guess that they may beach themselves while striving to save one beached whale, or that they may get caught in shallow water from dangerous currents while chasing prey, but no explanation has been found for this incident as of yet.
Why do you think whales would swim ashore, resulting in their death?
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia