Darlene Ketten at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has spent over 20 years studying whales and dolphins stranded on the coast of Massachusetts. She said sometimes people think that the whales come on shore because they want help. But, actually, she said, usually they come on shore by mistake, sometimes in a panic perhaps – or sometimes just from weakness. The animals can be weakened by disease or by toxins produced by the algae that cause red tides.

Scientists have also suggested that whales might use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate and that if the magnetic field is distorted – maybe through solar activity or magnetic anomolies on the sea floor – a whale might become disoriented. But Ketten said not everyone agrees that whales use magnetic fields to navigate.

And sometimes humans cause whale strandings. In 2002, 14 beaked whales washed ashore in the Canary Islands. Navy ships in the area were using active sonar, a system that emits loud sounds to “see” underwater. Some scientists think that the whales fled from the sound, and as they did, they rose too fast and got what divers call “the bends.”

Ketten hopes her study of stranded sea animals will yield better ideas for how to rescue them.

Our thanks to:
Darlene Ketten
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, MA