Whale calf ‘unlikely to survive' after mother washes up on Mayo beach
The site of a whale and her calf stranding on a north Mayo beach has been described as 'very distressing' for those who witnessed it.
Members of the public were present when a rare deep-diving True's beaked whale washed up on Kilcummin back strand and died.
This mother and calf were seen swimming rapidly into shallow waters just before peak high tide and then beached themselves on the shore.
Unfortunately, the mother whale died within moments of stranding, while the calf managed to swim away.
'This was a very distressing incident for those present, and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is extremely grateful to the members of the public who quickly alerted us via the IWDG emergency hotline, and to our trained IWDG Live stranding responders who immediately responded,' said the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).
A postmortem led by Dr Frank O'Sullivan of Dublin Zoo on Monday, July 29, revealed the mother was lactating. This indicates that the calf was maternally dependent and was unlikely to survive on its own, according to the IWDG .
True's beaked whales are typically found at depths of more than 800 metres and feed off squid and deep-sea fish.
The IWDG said their presence in shallow coastal waters 'often signals a serious underlying issue such as illness, injury, or acoustic trauma'.
'Live strandings of beaked whales are particularly concerning as, unlike coastal dolphins, these animals are not suitable candidates for refloating due to the distance from their natural habitat, and the high likelihood of re-stranding,' the group said.
'Multiple strandings of deep-diving species in different regions in a short time may indicate a shared acoustic event.'
Last Thursday, two live Sowerby's beaked whales also live stranded in the Netherlands. One died and the other was euthanised after it had been re-floated several times by members of the public.
Elsewhere four Northern bottlenose whales - another deep-diving beaked whale species - became stranded last week in Orkney off the north coast of Scotland.
'While we do not know if these events are linked, multiple strandings of deep-diving species in a short time frame are always a cause for concern and close monitoring,' said the Irish Dolphin and Whale Group.
If you come across a live stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise, call the IWDG hotline at 097 28118.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
10 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Distressing' sight as rare deep-diving whale & calf wash up on Irish beach & experts probe ‘acoustic trauma' theory
The two whales became stranded and died on Kilcummin beach in Co Mayo SAD STORY 'Distressing' sight as rare deep-diving whale & calf wash up on Irish beach & experts probe 'acoustic trauma' theory A WHALE and her calf have died following a stranding on a Mayo beach, in what has been called a "very distressing incident" to witness. The True's beaked whale and her calf were seen swimming into shallow water at high tide on Kilcummin beach on 27 July. 3 Experts believe the whales died from acoustic trauma caused by human activity Credit: Cathy & Angela Kelly 3 The whale calf was found dead a few days after its mother Credit: Cathy & Angela Kelly Both animals beached themselves on the shore. The mother is believed to have died quickly; the calf, however, managed to refloat but was found dead a few days later. According to the CEO of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Dr Simon Berrow, similar incidents took place around the same time in the Netherlands and Orkney in Scotland. Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, he said: "When you put them all together, it could just be a coincidence, or it could indicate that something has happened. "Typically, when these deep-diving species live-strand, your first thought is it could be acoustic trauma." He explained: "This is generally associated with typically naval exercises because the navy - not the Irish navy – would use a thing called an 'active sonar', which is the same frequency as the whales use to communicate, and they're incredibly sensitive to these frequencies." These loud man-made sounds can cause significant harm to the whales and cause them to surface too fast, giving them the bends. According to Dr Berrow, nothing could have been done to save the whales after they became stranded. Notably, he said the stranding of these whales marks only the second confirmed sighting of True's beaked whales in Irish waters. Chilling moment killer whales practice DROWNING each other in horror 'training session' captured on film for first time True's beaked whales are deep divers, typically found at depths of over 800 metres, where they feed on deep-sea fish and squid. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group described the stranding as "a very distressing incident". The group said it is 'extremely grateful' to the members of the public who alerted the organisation. 'PARTICULARLY CONCERNING' In a statement regarding the incident, they said: "Live strandings of beaked whales are particularly concerning. "Unlike coastal dolphins, these animals are not suitable candidates for refloating due to the distance from their natural habitat, and the high likelihood of re-stranding." They added: "Multiple strandings of deep-diving species in different regions in a short time may indicate a shared acoustic event. "Two Sowerby's beaked whales also live stranded on Saturday in the Netherlands. "In the Netherlands, live-stranded beaked whales are typically euthanised, as the North Sea lies far outside their natural habitat." According to the organisation, four Northern bottlenose whales were also stranded in Orkney off the north coast of Scotland around that time. They added that while they "do not know if these events are linked" multiple strandings of deep-diving species in a short time frame "are always a cause for concern and close monitoring". An investigation is currently underway to identify the cause of these strandings.
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
Whale calf ‘unlikely to survive' after mother washes up on Mayo beach
True's beaked whale washes up on Kilcummin back strand in north Mayo The site of a whale and her calf stranding on a north Mayo beach has been described as 'very distressing' for those who witnessed it. Members of the public were present when a rare deep-diving True's beaked whale washed up on Kilcummin back strand and died. This mother and calf were seen swimming rapidly into shallow waters just before peak high tide and then beached themselves on the shore. Unfortunately, the mother whale died within moments of stranding, while the calf managed to swim away. 'This was a very distressing incident for those present, and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is extremely grateful to the members of the public who quickly alerted us via the IWDG emergency hotline, and to our trained IWDG Live stranding responders who immediately responded,' said the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). A postmortem led by Dr Frank O'Sullivan of Dublin Zoo on Monday, July 29, revealed the mother was lactating. This indicates that the calf was maternally dependent and was unlikely to survive on its own, according to the IWDG . True's beaked whales are typically found at depths of more than 800 metres and feed off squid and deep-sea fish. The IWDG said their presence in shallow coastal waters 'often signals a serious underlying issue such as illness, injury, or acoustic trauma'. 'Live strandings of beaked whales are particularly concerning as, unlike coastal dolphins, these animals are not suitable candidates for refloating due to the distance from their natural habitat, and the high likelihood of re-stranding,' the group said. 'Multiple strandings of deep-diving species in different regions in a short time may indicate a shared acoustic event.' Last Thursday, two live Sowerby's beaked whales also live stranded in the Netherlands. One died and the other was euthanised after it had been re-floated several times by members of the public. Elsewhere four Northern bottlenose whales - another deep-diving beaked whale species - became stranded last week in Orkney off the north coast of Scotland. 'While we do not know if these events are linked, multiple strandings of deep-diving species in a short time frame are always a cause for concern and close monitoring,' said the Irish Dolphin and Whale Group. If you come across a live stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise, call the IWDG hotline at 097 28118.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
'Acoustic trauma' could have caused Mayo whale beaching
A True's beaked whale and her calf who became stranded and died in Co Mayo could have beached due to "acoustic trauma", according to the CEO of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. Acoustic trauma can cause great harm to whales due to loud man-made sounds in the ocean, particularly when naval exercises make use of active sonar. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Simon Berrow, who is also a lecturer at Atlantic Technical University Galway, said the stranding in Kilcummin Back Strand on 27 July happened around the same time as similar incidents in the Netherlands and Orkney in Scotland. "When you put them all together, it could just be a coincidence, or it could indicate that something has happened. "Typically, when these deep-diving species live-strand, your first thought is it could be acoustic trauma," Dr Berrow said. He added: "These species are deep divers. They'll go down to 1,000 or 2,000 metres on every dive so they're designed to dive deep routinely. "And often they're getting washed up with signs of the bends, which is an incredibly unusual thing, so it tends to be attributed to acoustic trauma when the animal has surfaced too fast. "This is generally associated with typically naval exercises because the navy - not the Irish navy – would use a thing called an 'active sonar' which is the same frequency as the whales use to communicate and they're incredibly sensitive to these frequencies. "We're not saying that's the case but when you've an unusual event over a wide geographical range you kind of flag and think 'what's going on? Is this just a coincidence or a little bit indicative of something sinister going on'," Dr Berrow said. According to Dr Berrow, the stranding of the two True's beaked whales was only the second confirmed sighting in Irish waters ever, and the 20th stranding of that species in total since 1899. He said nothing at all could have been done to save the whales after they became stranded. "The logistics of refloating these whales are quite challenging, you need people, you need people who are trained, it can be quite dangerous." Dr Berrow added that while the calf refloated on its own, it was found dead a few days later. "It probably died fairly quickly and that's probably a good thing because with the adult mother dying the calf would have starved to death," he said. An investigation is under way to determine what happened to the whales. However, Dr Berrow is unsure whether it will get to the bottom of what happened due to the complexity of conducting the post-mortem and a lack of expertise in Ireland.
