Whales Beached Themselves on Different Parts of the Atlantic

A pod of 26 pilot whales beached themselves along the coast of Fife in Scotland, at the same time 22 whales found themselves on the beaches of south-central Florida in the U.S.

Crowds of on-lookers gathered to watch the massive rescue and relief operation. Coastguards say that it’s common for single whales to beach themselves, this particular specie comes swimming for the beach due to a parasite that affects their brains.

“This is very unusual,” a coastguard on the rescue reports to Reuters: “we have members of rescue team who’ve been coastguards all they’re lives and haven’t witnessed this type of thing.” 13 from Scotland and only 5 whales from Florida’s shore survived the ordeal.

Changes are thought to be the result of climate warming

There are a lot of reports of unusual whale behavior lately, many incidents related to migration patterns.

A recent sighting on San Francisco Bay of a small-size calf that followed its wayward mother indicates that its mother had just calved instead of heading north like others of her kind, Baycitizen.org reports. That incident illuminated a likely repercussion of melting polar ice, scientists said.

Whale calf sightings have been reported in South Australia as well, The Dolphin Research Institute says a number of humpback whales remained in Western Port and Port Phillip bays in Victoria throughout the migration season instead of travelling north.

Tagged climate warming, whales