Latest news with #SMASS
Daily Record
23-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Record
Three rare whales found dead on Orkney shoreline
A specialist team from the University of Glasgow has begun carrying out post-mortems on the whale carcasses. Three rare whales have been found dead on the shoreline on Orkney. The northern bottlenose whales - a deep-diving ocean species rarely seen close to land - were discovered at the southern tip of Papa Westray, on Wednesday, July 23. Early examinations suggest the animals were in good health before they became stranded, with no signs of entanglement, fishing gear injuries, or other human-related trauma. The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), based at the University of Glasgow, is currently investigating the incident. Director Dr Andrew Brownlow said the deaths were 'tragic' and pointed to broader environmental concerns. He said: "We have been attending the stranding of three bottlenose dolphins on Papa Westray and investigations are still at a very early stage. We can tell from initial examinations that the animals were all male and may not have fed in a number of days, possibly contributing to their stranding. "While we do not yet know for sure why these particular animals stranded, we know this species are deep divers, whose usual habitat is the deep ocean and although it is not unheard of for this species to mass strand like this it is not usual. We know this species can be sensitive to the impacts of disturbance from for example underwater noise but at this stage it is not possible to say for certain what led to this stranding. "July is increasingly becoming a problematic month from strandings in Scotland, suggesting our waters are changing, impacting the wildlife within them. Although strandings are tragic events in their own right, we can learn from them in terms of the species, the individual animals, and what might be impacting them in our waters." The dead whales are being examined as part of ongoing efforts to better understand the causes of marine mammal strandings, which appear to be on the rise in Scottish waters. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! The incident has also sparked concern among conservationists, who fear that warming seas, pollution and increased maritime activity may be taking a toll on vulnerable marine species. SMASS has urged anyone who finds a stranded marine animal - alive or dead - to report it immediately, so experts can respond and gather crucial information. The final results of the post-mortem investigations are expected in the coming weeks.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Three whales found dead in Orkney stranding
Three bottlenose whales have been found dead on Papa Westray, one of Orkney's northernmost islands. A specialist team from the University of Glasgow has started to carry out post-mortem examinations on the carcasses. Investigations into the cause of death are ongoing. It comes after the biggest mass stranding in Scotland for almost 30 years took place in Orkney last summer. The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), a team at the University of Glasgow, arrived in Orkney after the carcasses were discovered by a local dog walker on Monday morning. Warning: this story contains images and descriptions some readers may find distressing SMASS member Marielle ten Doeschate said: "With any post-mortem we're kind of on the clock, because samples start to degrade, and the more decomposed an animal is the less informative it is for auxiliary tests. "But with deep-diving species we're extra on the ball with that because heat generation means decomposition goes quicker, so we were actually really lucky to get here so quickly." SMASS examined one of the three whales on Tuesday before a high tide put a stop to initial investigations. Despite a noticeable bloating after lying out in the sun, the team found that the whales had all been healthy - though they had not been feeding recently. SMASS will continue its post-mortem examinations at Vestness in Papa Westray on Wednesday to try to determine a cause of death. Bottlenose whales are deep-diving mammals endemic to the North Atlantic. They are usually found at 800ft (244m) below sea level where there are no predators, feeding on squid. SMASS director Dr Andrew Brownlow, a veterinary pathologist, told BBC Scotland News: "We're getting many more species that we'd normally see further south in warmer waters that seem to be coming up here more frequently in bigger numbers." He said the reason for the shift from their natural habitat remain unconfirmed, but that it ultimately seemed to be as a result of climate change. 'We can learn so much' However, for Dr Brownlow and his team, the discovery of the whales was not entirely negative. He added: "As sad as it is that they strand like this, we can learn so much about them, we can learn about the individual but also learn about the species - a species of which we know very little." The carcasses were discovered by local firefighter Daniel Elves, who was walking his dogs when the animals "loomed out of the mist". The islanders had just celebrated their annual Papay Fun Weekend, which sees a large increase in its normal population of approximately 70 people for an annual get-together. "I actually sat down and shed a tear at the colour of the water," Mr Elves said. "You couldn't have made it any redder." SMASS attended a similar scene last year when an entire pod of whales was found washed ashore on Tresness Beach, on the island of Sanday, in the largest mass stranding since 1995. "July is a particularly bad month for strandings," said Dr Brownlow. "In 2023, there was a stranding of 55 pilot whales on the Isle of Lewis. "Almost exactly a year later, 77 of them came in to Sanday." Whole pod of 77 whales die in 'biggest mass stranding in decades' Whales were healthy before Orkney stranding - expert Experts probe one of UK's worst whale strandings
BBC News
23-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Three bottlenose whales found dead in Orkney stranding
Three bottlenose whales have been found dead on Papa Westray, one of Orkney's northernmost islands.A specialist team from the University of Glasgow has started to carry out post-mortem examinations on the carcasses. Investigations into the cause of death are ongoing. It comes after the biggest mass stranding in Scotland for almost 30 years took place in Orkney last summer. The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), a team at the University of Glasgow, arrived in Orkney after the carcasses were discovered by a local dog walker on Monday morning. Warning: this story contains images and descriptions some readers may find distressing SMASS member Marielle ten Doeschate said: "With any post-mortem we're kind of on the clock, because samples start to degrade, and the more decomposed an animal is the less informative it is for auxiliary tests. "But with deep-diving species we're extra on the ball with that because heat generation means decomposition goes quicker, so we were actually really lucky to get here so quickly."SMASS examined one of the three whales on Tuesday before a high tide put a stop to initial investigations. Despite a noticeable bloating after lying out in the sun, the team found that the whales had all been healthy - though they had not been feeding recently. SMASS will continue its post-mortem examinations at Vestness in Papa Westray on Wednesday to try to determine a cause of whales are deep-diving mammals endemic to the North are usually found at 800ft (244m) below sea level where there are no predators, feeding on director Dr Andrew Brownlow, a veterinary pathologist, told BBC Scotland News: "We're getting many more species that we'd normally see further south in warmer waters that seem to be coming up here more frequently in bigger numbers."He said the reason for the shift from their natural habitat remain unconfirmed, but that it ultimately seemed to be as a result of climate change. 'We can learn so much' However, for Dr Brownlow and his team, the discovery of the whales was not entirely added: "As sad as it is that they strand like this, we can learn so much about them, we can learn about the individual but also learn about the species - a species of which we know very little."The carcasses were discovered by local firefighter Daniel Elves, who was walking his dogs when the animals "loomed out of the mist". The islanders had just celebrated their annual Papay Fun Weekend, which sees a large increase in its normal population of approximately 70 people for an annual get-together. "I actually sat down and shed a tear at the colour of the water," Mr Elves said."You couldn't have made it any redder."SMASS attended a similar scene last year when an entire pod of whales was found washed ashore on Tresness Beach, on the island of Sanday, in the largest mass stranding since 1995."July is a particularly bad month for strandings," said Dr Brownlow."In 2023, there was a stranding of 55 pilot whales on the Isle of Lewis. "Almost exactly a year later, 77 of them came in to Sanday."
