The mystery of 16 whales stranded

Elephants are the largest mammals on land, and in the ocean, there is also a large mammal, that is, whales.

In the endless blue waters, perhaps not only a group of whales are staying in the waters of Zhejiang , China , but we cannot see their movements from below the surface of the sea .

Until recently, in just 6 days, 16 whales washed up on the beach in Zhejiang, China , arousing the attention of the world . Why are they Piaoyang over the sea to China , Zhejiang, how long swim, is how come, is not it like 15 Tou migration of elephants, like home?

On July 6 , 12 melon-headed whales stranded in Linhai Toumen Port, Taizhou , China .

On July 9 , two rough-toothed dolphins (dolphins are small to medium-sized cetaceans) beached on the beach of Zhangshu Village , Xidian Town , Ninghai , Ningbo , China .

On July 11 , another two melon-headed whales ran aground at the East Sea Pond in Wenling , Taizhou , China . (Related: China Wenling City, Taizhou, two stranded whales fish, the other end being shipped to the death of a deep-sea release is not confirmed before the release of the melon-headed whale!)

Experts explain: the ancient whale may be a kind of amphibians, eat fish in the sea during the day, and return to rest on land at night

Among the many "natural mysteries", the whale's "suicide tragedy" is undoubtedly the most tragic scene.

Every year, there are reports of whale strandings around the world. Scientists from various countries have various speculations about the mystery of whale suicide, but it is still uncertain why the whales living in the sea suddenly rush to the beach uncharacteristically.

There is a speculation that the whale stranding may be an ancestral phenomenon. It is in the water when in danger, escape to the land, thus creating a practice used to.

Yesterday, Shan Lei, an associate professor at the School of Life Sciences , Nanjing Normal University , China , said in an interview with reporters that more than 50 million years ago, whales and cattle and sheep were the same ancestor. They both walked on four legs, probably during the ice age, on land. Can not find the food, but to find in the river to the food. So, after tens of millions of years of evolution, the limbs have evolved into fins, living in the deep sea.

"Whale is a very special kind of life. Its entire organ structure is the same as that of mammals on land, but it can live in the deep sea like a fish . It lives and preys at about 1000 to 1500 meters in the deep sea , every once in a while. it will be returned to the sea call suck. "

Liu Yadan, deputy secretary-general of the China Agricultural International Exchange Association and chief national science communication expert, once wrote that according to scientists, ancient whales may be an amphibians. They go to the sea to eat fish during the day and return to rest on land at night. Only later, unable to withstand the lure of fish and other delicacies in the sea, gradually moved to the sea to live. There are many kinds of whales, there are more than 80 kinds in the world, and there are more than 30 kinds in our country . Most of them live in the sea, and only a few cetaceans live in fresh water.

Recently, due to the seasonal "pressing" of high salt water in the open sea, the seawater in which whales live from clear to turbid may cause the sonar system to be unusable and inevitably get lost . Most scientists believe that the stranding of the whale is related to the damage to its sonar system.

Whale eyes are small, and poor vision, but having a whale art echo ranging with high sensitivity, capable of emitting ultrasonic waves, this ultra- sound waves reflected by an obstacle will form an echo. With this ability is measured cetaceans was foraging and navigation accuracy of non very high.

These two melon-headed whale strandings, whales tend to be more single Lei of a health problem, like human beings, whales get sick, it's the sound na system is a problem.

Chinese marine biologist Ocean University, Zhejiang, Professor Zhao Shenglong think so, his analysis said yesterday, "Right now, in the Gulf, especially its beaches sea or turbidity, which is off the coast of highly saline seasonal 'pushed' related to whales by the clear waters The environment suddenly entered the turbid sea environment, and with the whale's eyesight (the eyes were not so good), it was inevitable to get lost.

"Whales rely on sonar to navigate and distinguish objects, but under special circumstances, they still have eyes, not all of them rely on sonar, especially in turbid sea ​​water (sudden entry), sonar is not easy to use due to the turbidity of the sea (density changes). . Inadvertent mistakes are excusable."

Whales are at the top of the food chain in the ocean. Except for killer whales and large sharks that can harm it, experts believe that it is unlikely to take refuge on land.

In addition to the above reasons, the academic community speculates that there are many possible factors affecting whale stranding: due to predator pursuit or human harassment , they were stranded when they landed in panic; they were sickened and wanted to climb to the shore to seek survival opportunities; near the coast. Foraging, due to gluttony, unfortunately ran aground at low tide; the lead whale ran aground, and the swarming habits of whales caused other whales to follow suit, causing tragedies; it was related to the coastal terrain and meteorological conditions.

Single Lei said, these are just guesses, "whale in the ocean is at the top of the food chain, in addition to killer whales and large sharks can hurt it , but it is no natural enemies, so be chasing prey, desperate to flee to refuge on land, I think it’s unlikely."

According to media reports, Japanese scholar Hisato Iwata detected high concentrations of organotin poisons such as tributyltin and triphenyltin in the dead animal carcasses . These poisons come from the paint applied to the bottom of the ship every year by the shipping company. He believes that whales or dolphins like to chase along the ship's route, their nervous system and internal organs may be poisoned, their ability to distinguish directions may be destroyed, and they may be stranded and die.

The American marine biologist Darlene Keton did an autopsy of martyred whales in the Bahamas and found that the inner ears of these whales generally had bleeding. He believes that this is most likely the high-power sonar used on US Navy ships, causing the whales to lose the ability to distinguish their directions .

The warm current northward brings abundant fish schools and also attracts whales to follow Zhejiang all the way. Why have whales come to Zhejiang continuously recently?

Chen Jian, director of the Marine Biology Museum of Zhejiang Ocean University, said, “Recently, the warm current in Taiwan has become more pronounced. The warm current moves northward. The appropriate temperature has brought abundant fish and also attracted whales that followed along the way.”

"This group of melon-headed whales must have followed the school of fish. It followed the food. It may be due to the fishing ban. The ocean is rich in fish resources, so they appeared in the Taizhou waters." Shan Lei said. "For now, a total of 14 head melon-headed whale stranded melon-headed whale, then a few dozen ethnic basically head-to-head hundreds, the number of stranded melon-headed whale is relatively small. Therefore, there is a point can be sure , Indicating that there may be a large group of melon-headed whales in this sea area, they are preying under the surface of the sea, and these 14 melon- headed whales are out of the group."

Zhao Shenglong analyzed that cetaceans enter the intertidal zone from the open sea, which is related to their gluttony. This season, the most number of offshore mullet pike and more, and mullet pike whale is the "favorite."

Why should the whale be rescued as soon as possible after landing and let it return to the sea?

"According to our research, whale IQ is relatively high, it lay stranded on the beach, we should be able to know its rescue aid, it can distinguish between favorable and unfavorable behavior." Lei participated in the single before 12 head melon-headed whale rescue operations, he said, although melon head whales are mammals, have lungs, but out of the water, it is easy death, because it lives in water environments, long time to be out of water experience " "Dried" to death.

"It has been living in the deep sea, where the temperature is relatively low, and when it comes to shore, the temperature is relatively high. We have been watering its body with water to keep its body moist. Especially the spray hole on its head, every time After a while, if it cannot surface on its own, it must be manually lifted from the sea to breathe, otherwise it will be suffocated to death."

The previous release of melon head whales into the sea in time was also related to the habits of melon head whales. "It is a deep-sea creature. If it is kept in an aquarium , it will feel uncomfortable and harm it with different temperature, water pressure, food, and such a small captive pond."

This news sources to City Express reported