Question:
> Dear Kim do you know why do whales go on the beach ?
>
> Reply:
> Dear Bridget,
Scientists are not sure exactly what causes whales to strand or beach
themselves. One of the reasons whales beach themselves is because of
disease. Some species have a tight knit social structure so that if one
member is accidentally beaches, the rest will follow. It is also being
researched as to whether sometimes a whale's sense of direction can be
thrown off by different factors. This is what some scientists think
happened to a whale named Moby that was beached in Scotland in the spring of
1997. They believe that Moby, along with other whales, turned too soon
during their migration which caused them to become disoriented and lose
their sense of direction. To read more about this incident, check out this
WhaleNet page: http://whale.wheelock.edu/archives/info97/0117.html. You can
also try this web site for more information: www.mmsc.org.
Thank you!
Kim
Kim Marshall
Executive Director
Ocean Alliance (Whale Conservation Inst. & the Voyage of the Odyssey)
191 Weston Road, Lincoln, MA 01773
781.259.0423 ext. 14 fax 259.0288
www.oceanalliance.org www.pbs.org/odyssey
Please support our efforts to conserve whales and their ocean environment
through research and education :)
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sun Feb 16 2003 - 08:52:18 EST