Stranded sperm whale dies in Humber estuary and the HWDT issues a warning

On 4th February, the day that rescuers failed in a dramatic attempt to save a rare sperm whale stranded at the mouth of the Humber estuary, the Seawatch Foundation and the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust issued a warning about Nato exercises off Scotland, starting on 27 February 2006.

The Royal Navy will for the first time use both its ships equipped with low-frequency sonar systems. Such technology has been linked to whale and dolphin deaths elsewhere in the world.
The whale stranded on a sandbank three-quarters of a mile from the shore and is the second deep-water whale to meet its death along the east coast in as many weeks.

Following the media storm reporting death of the Thames northern bottlenose whale two weeks ago, the death of the sperm whale has reignited controversy and speculation about the fate of whales in the North Sea. The whales - both deep-water species, which should not have been in the shallow North Sea - are likely to have strayed there after making navigational errors.

These navigational errors could have been caused by naval sonar confusing their senses. Further research and a precautionary approach are needed. According to media reports, the 14ft whale was first spotted, beached and struggling to free itself, on Kilnsea Clay sandbank to the west of Spurn Head at about 10.30am. A crowd gathered at the local Crown and Anchor pub to watch its ever more desperate efforts as the ebbing tide left it more and more firmly stuck.  Local people looked on with heightened concern as the whale struggled to get free and became increasingly distressed.
Two lifeboats set out to save it, but could not get close enough as the tide receded, so a four-man team of rescuers from British Divers and Marine Life Rescue - which led the attempt to save the London whale - decided to wade out to it, reaching the animal at about 3pm, close to low tide, after it had been left high and dry. But by the time rescuers got to the whale, it had rolled over on its side, its blowhole had become buried in mud, and it had suffocated.

Research suggests that from time to time, sperm whales travelling south from far North Atlantic waters make navigation errors and pass east of the Shetlands, rather than to the west, ending up in the North Sea. Once there, according to the theory, they try to continue their instinctive south-westward journey, which would normally take them through deep waters west of Ireland - and strand in estuaries that appear to offer them a route there, such as the Humber and the Thames. A similar theory was advanced to explain the death of the London whale.

However, the mistake may have been caused by disturbance from naval sonar, which has been linked to some 30 strandings around the world.

SPERM WHALE FACTS

• Males can grow to between 17 and 20 metres and weigh 36-45 tons,
living off squid and fish.

• The creature has the largest brain of any animal, weighing up to
9kg. A human brain weighs about 1.4kg.

• The name comes from a waxy substance in its head, the valuable
spermaceti oil, thought by early whalers to be sperm.

• Although hunted heavily for meat and oil, between 200,000 and two
million are thought to be in existence.

• Herman Melville's Moby-Dick was a sperm whale.