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As per Elzet's request

Story here : http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2524626,00.html

TheunsH -- any comments welcome.
Very very sad

Thank you for starting this topic P@m.

That is very sad.....wonder why they beach themselves??

"Nan Rice, head of the Dolphin Action and Protection group said a decision had been made to put down part of a group of 55 false killer whales that could not be moved back into the sea.
Rice said the whales, which weigh 4 600-5 500kg and grow to 4.6-5.5m long, probably stranded because of a "navigational error"."

© 1999 - 2009 Independent Online

According to the news report, a pod of whales will beach themselves if one is ill and beaches itself.

Amazing to watch the folk there trying so hard to save these whales

Tx P@m....

Sad, sad, sad day...

Great thread p@m.

This is a very emotional and debatable question…why do whales beach themselves?

Let’s start of by asking the question…Why do whales die when beached? The smallest species of whales weigh in at several tons. They die from overheating and from the crushing weight of their bodies. Usually the whale’s body weight is too much and that suffocates it with its respiratory muscles incapable of sufficiently dilating its rib cage to ensure adequate pulmonary ventilation.

Also, circulation of the animal's body that is in contact with the ground is blocked by the animal's weight, causing tissues to die.

Whales on the beach struggling to survive are not a pleasant experience, and people are very emotional about this issue trying to save these beached whales. Even if the animal is returned to the water, these dead tissues may produce toxins leading to generalized infection and death.

In many instances whales will return beaching themselves after been saved, and believes are that they return due to the distress calls from the other whales still in distress. Whales are highly social animals.

There are no easy answers to the question of why whales beach? Many causes have been researched and one explanation involves the whale "pod" social structure. Whales traveling in pods use a "strength in numbers" survival strategy, but this can backfire when the dominant whale runs aground. A disoriented or sick dominant whale may be followed onto the beach by the rest of the pod or a pod may venture too close to shore and become trapped by the tides.

Other theories suggest that defects in a whale's navigation system may be the cause of whales beaching, but the fact is that we do not know how whales navigate the vast oceans….it seems to be a very speculative issue.

The fact is that whales do not beach to commit suicide. Although highly intelligent, it's believe that whales do not have the mental capability to understand a concept like that!

(Sources: http://www.thecryptmag.com/Online/32/WhaleBeaching.html , http://www.physorg.com/news128351475.html )

Thank you TheunsH. I hoped there was some new theory.........

That is so sad. So euthanasia, however distressing to helpers, is the only humane option?

Thanks so much for the insight TheunsH

There have been further updates on the news24 site too.

@Guinea Pig -- it was the only option yesterday, according to Nan Rice, as the sea conditions were very rough. And there were far too many helpers who really didn't know what they were doing. Some helpers were injured too -- broken leg, crushed ankle and 3 near drownings that I know about. The whales are heavy and will roll over on to their helpers.
The other problem was crowd control -- ideally the police would have liked to clear the beach before shooting whales, but many helpers were just too emotional over the whole situation.

Still very sad.

Thanks for the insight and info, TheunsH and p@m. More than I was able to gather from the newspaper.

Thank you TH.

Thanks for the info, TH...

Just want to know for sure...what species of whale is this??
More than half the reliable news sources I read or heard say Pilot whales and the rest like here call them False Killer Whales...anyone know for sure??
Sad nevertheless...