3/28/2023 0 Comments Beached whaleNo wind farms are up and running off the coast of New Jersey, but pre-construction work has begun, including underwater seabed mapping and turbine construction, according to Politico. Some groups have speculated the deaths are related to offshore wind energy development, but the Marine Mammal Stranding Center noted last week that no whale death has been linked to such activities, and a NOAA fisheries spokesperson said last month the increase in humpback whale deaths began before offshore wind activities in the Atlantic Ocean. The number of whales found in New York and New Jersey in recent weeks is unprecedented, environmental groups said earlier this month. A rise in the number of shipping vessels in areas whales travel, like off the coasts of New York, New Jersey and California, have made whales more vulnerable to strikes. Grimmer said the animals face “ a very high risk” as large mega-ships often travel through areas frequented by whales. Injuries from sea vessels and entanglements in fishing buoy lines pose a danger for whales, Karen Grimmer, a resource protection coordinator with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, told Forbes in August. Let the trained professionals lead the rescue.At least 10 whales have died after being stranded on beaches in New York and New Jersey in less than two months, according to ABC 7. Do not attempt to approach the whale on your own-you never know when that powerful tail will decide to thrash, or if they might carry diseases. If you spot a beached whale, call the local authorities immediately. The good news is that some of these whales do survive. Others die from the stress of from whatever made them beach in the first place. Sadly, for whatever reason-illness, exhaustion, or possibly something else-some whales become re-stranded shortly after their rescue. Rescuers try to track the whales, if the suitable tracking devices are available in time. It’s an awful outcome, but usually better for the whale than allowing nature to run its course-the death of a beached whale can be a slow and grueling process. If it is impossible to return the whale back to the water in time, the whale is usually euthanized. If rescuers are able to secure the right equipment in time, the complicated process of lifting the whale and moving it into the water is undertaken. When a whale is beached and incapable of swimming, rescuers attempt to keep the whale alive by digging a trench around the whale, helping to relieve the pressure of its weight, and by keeping the whale’s skin damp and cool with wet cloths. This can be done in a few ways: rescuers can use sound to try to guide the whales out, either using recordings of the whale species’ own calls to beckon it towards a certain direction, or by playing the sounds that a predator would emit to try to steer the whales away from the shore. Rescuers can also use multiple boats to corral the whales out into deeper water. If whales are swimming in shallow waters, rescuers can attempt to redirect them back out to sea. All too often, there is simply not enough time to wait for the equipment to arrive. Stranded whales are often found in relatively remote places, which unfortunately means that access to important equipment-including medicine, cranes, heavy movers-is often nonexistent. Rescuers know that they need to work quickly to get the whale back into deep waters-a matter made even more complicated in mass strandings, like the case of the 51 pilot whales who washed ashore in Florida last year. When they’re stranded in shallow waters or completely beached, they’re in tremendous danger. Whales are heavy creatures, and they need the buoyancy of water to lighten the load of their massive organs. Trained biologists in the area are also called upon to help. These teams undergo training and are ready to pounce when they receive a command from the NOAA. The NOAA maintains teams of volunteers throughout every coastal state. Usually, the person who first sees the whale calls the local authorities, who eventually communicate the matter with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ( NOAA) Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program ( MMHSRP). Most whale rescue attempts begin with a phone call. It’s usually a fisherman or a beach dweller who first comes across the stranded whale. If you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of beached whale rescue, then you’ll definitely want to read on. When the rescuee weighs multiple tons, you can imagine how difficult it is to return a whale to its proper habitat. The rescue of a beached whale is a complicated matter, to say the least. When a whale washes ashore onto the coast, rescuers only have so much time to work with before the creature perishes.
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