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“Of all cetaceans – whales and dolphins – pilot whales are the species most likely to strand themselves. Their name itself, pilot whale, comes from their propensity to follow a single leader…” Captions: Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan or, The Whale
Excerpts;
Biologists will perform necropsies on one whale that died and three that were euthanized after becoming stranded on a South Carolina beach.
Pilot whales are usually at least 100 miles offshore, “so when you see them come this close to shore, it’s definitely alarming…”
Read Full Article; CBS News (09-29-2019)
Mass Strandings of Pilot Whales: A Study, Science Daily (03-14-2013)
Biologists since Aristotle have puzzled over the reasons for mass strandings of whales and dolphins, in which groups of up to several hundred individuals drive themselves up onto a beach…
Are humans to blame for mass whale strandings? by Philip Hoare, Guardian UK (05-201-2011)