Oh. My. God.... 188 Whales Stranded Themselves

[garybeck]

The stranding late on Sunday of 189 pilot whales and 10 dolphins on Naracoopa Beach on King Island was the state's fourth in three months.

Of the 199 animals found, only 54 pilot whales and about seven dolphins were still alive late yesterday. Rosemary Gales, from the Department of Primary Industries and Water, said while there was still no firm theory as to why the animals had beached themselves.

Gut-wrenching CNN video (including commercial before it starts, but worth watching)
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/03/02/mccallum.aus.whales.strand.sevennet

Related:

Judge: Stop blasting whales with sonar - 1/8/08
Mayport Naval Station uses the sonar that is said to be harmful to sea creatures.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/010908/nes_234049195.shtml

Court sides with Navy in dispute over sonar and whales - 9/12/08
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted sanctions placed on the Navy over its underwater sonar testing, a setback for environmental groups that claimed the warfare technology was harming whales and other marine mammals.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/12/navy.sonar.whales/index.html

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. oh nooooooooooo! I can't watch the video. :-(

[Jeep789]

2. Me either. The picture was sad enough. nt

[kentuck]

3. I can't bring myself to watch it either...

It is just too heart-wrenching.

[WillieW]

9. I feel that humans had something to do with this (Sonar?)

[garybeck]

14. the debate goes on, but i agree with you

[Jamastiene]

26. I agree

We are destroying everything without trying to curb our deadly impact on other life forms on this planet. In essence, we are slowly killing Her and all Her creatures. In time, we won't survive either...without the flora and fauna.

[4_TN_TITANS]

31. My first thought too, before opening the thread.

those poor creatures were blasted with something man-made.

[Uncle Joe]

49. That would be the logical explanation as whales and dolphins depend on sonar, it must have been

disorientating at best and painful at worst for them to choose an escape from their natural element and to certain death rather than remaining in the water.

To some people this means nothing, but I see it as a symptom of human societal collapse with just another thread from the intricate web of life being yanked out.

We have evolved our societies with death based priorities rather than adapting to life based ones and just as any cancer eventually destroys it's host with unregulated, relentless, single minded, energy hogging growth, I fear the same for our species.:-(

[1]

4. it is amazing that pilot whales and dolphins even exist anymore...

they don't seem to be all that smart about navigation. you know... the parts that are water and the parts that are not.

p.s. (related)

just so you don't think i'm a heartless prick, they have been doing this long before sonar was ever conceived of...

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. Yeah, you are a heartless prick

No offense :hi:

[1]

7. none taken...

[FlyingSquirrel]

32. But, perhaps, not before pollution was conceived of?

If your environment was so polluted that it became unlivable, maybe you'd decide to drown yourself.

Anyway, who's to say that there's not some other pollutant in the water that is affecting their navigational abilities. And were they doing this en masse or just an occasional beaching before sonar?

[stuntcat]

42. right..?

they say on the news every day how many parts of the seas are dying..
there's a garbage ISLAND on the pacific..
one species is filling the water with every type of trash you can imagine, every day..
But we can just assume these beautiful animals are the ones acting stupid :crazy: that makes it easier to carry on.

[underseasurveyor]

6. Damn Shame

Poor babies:-( A lot of good folks on that beach and they did help to save many.

[smalll]

8. ANOTHER obesity-debate thread? How many do we need?!?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_--YjWiyF8eE/R3arAaiu0-I/AAAAAAAABk0/JFvAw-4hw0s/s320/Emily+Litella.jpg

Nevermind.

[underseasurveyor]

24. heh

:spray:

[ZombieHorde]

10. Shame to see so much meat go to waste. nt

[WillieW]

11. Another heartless prick.

[ZombieHorde]

12. Why do you say that?

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. cuz that's what you are.

[ZombieHorde]

20. Because I don't like to see meat being wasted?

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. OMG. Why don't you head to the beach with your fork. lol.

[ZombieHorde]

23. The distance is impractical for me and the whales which have died are

probably already spoiled. I do enjoy seafood, but I have never had whale. I wonder what it is like.

[G_j]

53. why is water wet?

you tell us!
:rofl:

[Occulus]

15. I think that may be a dig at whalers from A Certain Far East Nation n/t

[wuvuj]

27. Look in the nirror...

...and think Solyent Green?

[ZombieHorde]

28. I think about myself being meat when I go camping.

And so do the mosquitoes. Fortunately, I have not had any run ins with bears, or mountain lions.

[WilliamPitt]

40. *snerk*

:spray: :spank:

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Good God. How much more proof do they need? Oh, I forgot, they don't care.

Really, what's a few whales, when WE HAVE TO BE SAFE FROM OSAMA'S DIESEL POWERED SUB FLEET!!!1111!!!!

:eyes:

[dysfunctional press]

21. proof of what?

:shrug:

[garybeck]

33. that sonar causes problems for marine life. n/t

[dysfunctional press]

36. then why were there beachings before sonar...?

IF that's what the beachings are proof of...?:shrug:

[Warren DeMontague]

41. Or, why was there lung cancer before cigarettes, for that matter?

Your logic doesn't hold.

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp

Apparently, even the Navy acknowledges that there is an issue, here:

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Navy_Agrees_To_Low_Frequency_Sonar_Restrictions_For_Mammals_Sake_22096.html

[dysfunctional press]

50. but not every mass beaching is caused by sonar...

just as you pointed out that not every case of lung cancer can be attributed to cigarettes...

in the post i was replying to, you seemed to intimate otherwise as far as the beachings are concerned.

[Warren DeMontague]

60. No, no. Every beaching is not attributable to this low freq. sonar, of course.

I'm not sure with what sort of historical regularity these mass beachings have been known to occur; but it seems to me that a number of incidents in recent years have shown some correlation to areas and times when the Navy has been testing this VLF technology. It's worth looking into, I would think, to see if this might have been the case here.

I know Whales beach themselves from time to time. Whether it happens en masse all that often, I'm don't really know.

But, if my post came across as purporting to KNOW that Low Freq. Sonar was responsible for this incident, no, I don't mean to imply that at all. I think it should be looked into.

[Chulanowa]

46. He upgraded?

I thought it was pedal-powered?

[smalll]

16. Mass whale suicide attacks are pretty harmless. At least they weren't geese.

I'm not so worried about Moby Dick. Goosama Bin Waddlin, that's more of an issue.

[Hollow Shells]

17. I like the first video, its really nice.

The photo in the OP is strange looking.

[orleans]

19. that is so sad.

i can't watch the video--

[Jamastiene]

25. There are no words.

:cry:

[fed_up_mother]

29. Wow. No words for that. Impossible to imagine such a thing.

[NickB79]

30. This is off the coast of Australia. Are there even any active naval vessels in the area?

I know that some whale beachings are probably due to sonar usage where high numbers of vessels operate, but is there any evidence this was due to sonar?

[garybeck]

34. i doubt the navy releases information about their sonar practices

if they did we could probably show a correlation.

[dysfunctional press]

37. how would it correlate to the beachings that happened before sonar was invented?

:shrug:

[scheming daemons]

35. Must've been males and refused to ask for directions....

...

[Runcible Spoon]

38. self delete

not funny

[Deja Q]

59. The last time I posted in a whale thread with a quip, I got hounded by the jerkwads.

Which is why every post in whale threads by me, from this morning forward, have been in utter seriousness.

(Just in case some jerkward decides to think I was making a sick joke.)

[Runcible Spoon]

62. You posted a sexist, nasty "quip"

IIRC, something along the lines of the whales beached themselves because their wives nagged them. You deserved what you got there, but by all means continue on with the victimization. We all know how much you love that shit.

[TwilightGardener]

39. That's going to smell awful.

[Pooka Fey]

43. Ah jeez.

This is so tragic. I don't have the strength to watch the video. :cry:

[alarimer]

44. They should be euthanized.

They are likely too injured by the stranding. Without water to support their weight, there is too much pressure on internal organs and they are quickly damaged. There is little point in trying to save them; it almost always fails.

The strandings may also indicate that they are sick or impaired in some way, making it likely they will just strand again. It happens most of the time in cases where they manage to get them off the beach that they just end up back on it in a day or two.

[bdamomma]

45. man causes so much misery for animals.

sad very sad if the cause is sonar.

[file83]

47. Get ready for a large earthquake in 2-6 days in that region.

:tinfoilhat:

[goforit]

48. OBAMA, STOP THE BLASTING OF WHALES!!! SEND PICTURES TO SUPREME Court!

[GreenPartyVoter]

51. That's so sad! :^(

[G_j]

56. it sure is

kick :-(

[TWiley]

52. It is the fucking military again ...... we so need to tone them back.

[tanngrisnir3]

64. Ah, so you were monitoring the Navy this whole time and documented it?

[KittyWampus]

54. It is posited that Australia's gently sloped coastline screws up the sea mammals' echo-location

[G_j]

55. this is so deeply disturbing

It rips at my guts, and brings tears to my eyes. If only the leaders and the powerful of this world would head the signs.
Many dolphin brains are larger than human's!

First off, the military's use of sonar is highly suspect, and should be stopped.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

57. Stupid Whales.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

65. There's actually a very amusing, unintended joke in OMCs comment.

But it's funnier if it goes unsaid.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[G_j]

61. I'm sorry but

I must kick this again..