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Why do whales swim onto beaches and just lie there while the tide goes out?

lemoncurdlemoncurd Posts: 57,778
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in General Discussion #1
Are they deliberately trying to die? Having a sunbathe? Trying to catch the lovely views of Redcar? Just plain stupid?

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    degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    #2
    They're suicidal
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    .Lauren..Lauren. Posts: 7,864
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    #3
    Sometimes they know they're sick and are trying to kill themselves. But a lot of evidence is now suggesting they are becoming confused by booms from oil rigs which effectively blurs their guidance system in their brain and they end up beaching.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 36,630
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    #4
    Boredom?
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    PictoPicto Posts: 24,270
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    #5
    degsyhufc wrote: »
    They're suicidal

    Were they feeling blue?
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 16,275
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    #6
    .Lauren. wrote: »
    Sometimes they know they're sick and are trying to kill themselves. But a lot of evidence is now suggesting they are becoming confused by booms from oil rigs which effectively blurs their guidance system in their brain and they end up beaching.

    I'm not sure on this it seems a trendy eco-charge to get at rigs. Whales have been beaching throughout history and there is no evidence they are doing it more now than they ever have before.
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    .Lauren..Lauren. Posts: 7,864
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    #7
    whip wrote: »
    .Lauren. wrote: »
    Sometimes they know they're sick and are trying to kill themselves. But a lot of evidence is now suggesting they are becoming confused by booms from oil rigs which effectively blurs their guidance system in their brain and they end up beaching.[/QUOTE]

    I'm not sure on this it seems a trendy eco-charge to get at rigs. Whales have been beaching throughout history and there is no evidence they are doing it more now than they ever have before.

    I agree, it's just one of the explanations out there.
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    PaparazzoPaparazzo Posts: 6,155
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    #8
    vinba wrote: »
    They saw Jo Brand swimming and jumped out of the sea due to fright.

    They heard her speaking on the beach and thought it was a mating call.
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    woot_whoowoot_whoo Posts: 18,030
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    #9
    Picto wrote: »
    Were they feeling blue?

    :D:D:D:D:D:D:D
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    CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,878
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    #10
    Maybe that's how land mammals evolved in the first place. Some of them had to be first to get out of the water.
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    MandarkMandark Posts: 47,964
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    #11
    .Lauren. wrote: »
    Sometimes they know they're sick and are trying to kill themselves. But a lot of evidence is now suggesting they are becoming confused by booms from oil rigs which effectively blurs their guidance system in their brain and they end up beaching.
    Yeah another one is naval sonar.
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    skunkboy69skunkboy69 Posts: 9,506
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    #12
    Maybe they've seen Britains Got Talent.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 354
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    #13
    Did anyone see the pointless attempts to keep the whale alive by 'keeping it wet'? In doing so the tree huggers will only have prolonged it's suffering. These cases never end well the kindest thing would have been to have it put down as soon as it was discovered.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,547
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    #14
    lemoncurd wrote: »
    Are they deliberately trying to die? Having a sunbathe? Trying to catch the lovely views of Redcar? Just plain stupid?

    If it was trying to catch the lovely views of Redcar then it was definitely stupid.

    But seriously I went down to see it this morning before it died and I was amazed by it. So beautiful, and such a shame that it died in such a public way.

    I've seen ridiculous comments on Facebook today about why it died, like people suggesting that it was because of people going down to look at it with dogs and it died of fright! Righto! :rolleyes:
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,547
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    #15
    James Hewitt wrote: »
    Did anyone see the pointless attempts to keep the whale alive by 'keeping it wet'? In doing so the tree huggers will only have prolonged it's suffering. These cases never end well the kindest thing would have been to have it put down as soon as it was discovered.

    I'm pretty sure everyone knew it was going to die, it came in with the tide and would never have survived until the high tide, plus it shouldn't have been in the North Sea anyway apparently because there isn't the food for them there so it couldn't have been released out there.

    However I think given the amount of publicity and the size of the crowds watching, they probably had to be seen to be "doing something".
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    foonkfoonk Posts: 4,012
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    #16
    They're tired?
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