Despite the best efforts of Marine medics, who raced to the scene, 77 pilot whales have sadly died on an Orkney beach, after stranding there in the early hours of 11 July.
On the morning of 11 July 2024, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR)received reports of a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on the isle of Sanday in Orkney.
When volunteer medics from the BDMLR arrived at the scene, they found 77 stranded animals, which had likely been there for several hours. Only 12 were still alive.
“With the very limited resources and people immediately available, health assessments and first aid were provided to the surviving animals as the incoming tide [approached] them,” says the BDMLR on its website.
The trained volunteers did everything they could to save the whales but they had been out of the ocean for too long. Without the support of the water, their internal organs were crushed by the weight of their huge bodies. The BDMLR believes there was a “high likelihood that they have inhaled water with the incoming tide.”
These huge mammals, which can weigh up to 4,500kg, also sunk deep into the sand and couldn’t get free, says the BDMLR: “The substrate they’re on is also incredibly soft meaning they have sunk even deeper into the sand when the tide washed over them, so they unfortunately weren’t able to refloat themselves.
Sadly, their conditions deteriorated and the remaining 12 live whales had to be euthanised.
The death of the pod is a huge blow for everyone who tried to save them. “We would like to thank all of our volunteer Marine Mammal Medics who attended this incident along with members of the local community for their efforts in these distressing circumstances,” says the BDMLR.
Experts are now trying to determine what caused the stranding. “The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) will attempt to recover as many bodies as possible for post-mortem sampling and examination to try to determine the circumstances of stranding,” the BDMLR’s statement says. The cause is currently unknown and the investigation will take time.
Melissa Hobson is a trained BDMLR volunteer
Top image © BDMLR
