Where Do Whales Live

Pilot whales at risk of being stranded on Scottish beach

A fisheries protection vessel, lent by the Scottish government, was being kept at a safe distance for fear of making the whales more stressed. Meanwhile about 20 volunteers had last night received emergency training in how to treat beached whales - by keeping them cool and wet - and how to get them back into the sea should the worse case scenario play itself out.

Inflatable pontoons have been sent to South Uist should the whales become beached.

“We are incredibly concerned; they are by no means out of the woods,” said Alistair Jack, who is in charge of the rescue effort. “If we entice them away they will go somewhere else and strand. We just have to play this out naturally. With so many injured, it isn’t ethical to herd them somewhere else to die.”

What drove the whales, who normally live out at sea, into Loch Carnan’s treacherous waters is not clear. Local fishermen have speculated that the abundance of octopus and squid might have acted as enticement but it is also possible a sick whale had swum to the shore and the rest of the tight-knit pod had simply followed.

The loch was scene of another near stranding as recently as October - normally such incidents are incredibly rare. On that occasion the whales swam away from the coast only to be discovered a few days later on a remote beach on Rutland Island off Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Thirty three whales died then - there was nobody at hand to help them off the beach - and rescue workers were last night deeply fearful of history repeating itself.

“They have displayed exactly the same behaviour as those that subsequently stranded in October and that is what worries us,” said Dave Jarvis, director of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, the charity coordinating the rescue. “The weather is horrendous; the rain is horizontal. It is not ideal for those of us trying to rescue the whales.”

Mr Jarvis said the pilot whales’ skin is “very delicate and comes off quite easily when they scrape against rocks”. Mr jarvis added: “When they do get an injury, it looks very bad, very gory. Their blood is very red because of the high concentration of haemoglobin.”

Mr Jack said last night: “About 20 of these whales have suffered terrible injuries, caused by cuts on rocks. The topography of the loch prevented them from standing because it has steep shorelines and a wide open mouth to sea.

Japanese Antarctic whaling suspended due to pressure from sea ...

By JLBane

I have never seen a whale in the flesh. I, like so many people, have had to admire them in pictures or on TV. I live in hope that one day I might get to share a patch of ocean with one, even for a few seconds.

I was fearful for a while that I might be too late, that by the time my travels took me to countries where the whales once swam freely they would be nothing more than a memory.

Conservation groups are battling every day to keep these beautiful creatures in good numbers, fighting against fishing and whaling industries which have become so huge, that many species of aquatic life, not just whales, are disappearing.

The good news today is that Japan has been forced to suspend its Antarctic whaling operations due to continual interruptions by a conservation group.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been a constant thorn in the Japanese whaling industry’s side for the past few years, but ramped up their disruptive tactics in the last two weeks; harassing the whaling vessels by hurling rancid butter in bottles onto the decks and tangling rope in the propeller of one ship, seriously slowing its movement.