Dozens of “pilot dolphins” run along the beach

These fibers may be due to disease, navigation errors, predators or human activity.

Published The 02/22/2021 8:00 AM

Update The 02/22/2021 8:25 AM

Study time: 1 minute.

Time is calculated. On Monday, February 22, New Zealand authorities mobilized to rescue dozens of “pilot dolphins” stranded off the north coast of the South Island. The Department of Defense (DOC) says 49 mammals have been found in a sand-tongued farewell spit 90 km north of Nelson. By Monday afternoon, at least nine pilot whales had died, and sixty people were scrambling to keep the rest alive in the hope that they could cross the waves and come out to sea.

The pilot whale crew has said goodbye to a dozen cases on the ground in the last 15 years. As of February 2017, nearly 700 of these mammals were trapped in the farewell spit, of which 250 were extinct.

Farewell Speed Whale Rescue Images, provided by Ro Project Jonah pic.twitter.com/VkkPpvr2mi

– Checkpoint (ecCheckpointRNZ) February 22, 2021

There is no specific scientific explanation for this phenomenon. Hypotheses point to problems related to disease, navigation errors, the presence of predators, extreme weather, or the terrain of some places. But others refer to human activity, especially disturbances caused by high-frequency sonar.