The stranding of 10 sperm whales on Christmas Eve near Withernsea was the largest of its kind since the beginning of records in 1913. Due to their large size, they could not be rescued and quickly died on the beach.
Further investigation on the carcasses by the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme has verified that the young males were all undernourished and in bad bodily condition. It is assumed that the “animals made a wrong turning out of Norway, where there is a deep trough where they can feed on squid. Instead of continuing through to the North Atlantic they ended up in the shallow North Sea where there is no food for them and have starved.”
Sadly, the deaths were not respected by the public. While five of the carcasses were washed back into the sea, two of the remaining five were mutilated. ‘Trophy hunters’ had taken the jaws off which made examinations even more difficult. In addition, children were seen climbing on the dead bodies, posing for pictures taken by their parents. Some travelling all the way from Birmingham just to visit the scene.
This is not just unrespectable towards the animals and the examination but can also be highly dangerous. The bodies pose a public health issue as bacteria on the decomposing animal can spread as zoonotic diseases to humans. Even though visitors were warned to stay away, not to touch the bodies, and a Coastguard Patrol was on site, the advice was ignored.
A section of the promenade will now be cordoned off until the logistics to take the carcasses away are in place. The bodies will either be taken to a landfill site for disposal or be incinerated.
The full article can be found here: Postmortems and removal of stranded Withernsea sperm whales to take place as council admit onlookers have been climbing on their carcasses | Yorkshire Post
Opmerkingen