The Mystery Behind Whale Strandings

Last January, more than 100 Pilot Whales beached themselves off the coast of Tamil Nadu, in Manapad. On the day of the stranding, wildlife filmmaker Sara was around 30 km away, scouting locations for his documentary, Fishing Palk Bay. He drove to Manapad immediately, and shot this footage using his iPhone. “It was heartbreaking to watch dozens of whales struggling on the shore. The forest department led the rescue effort to lead the mammals back into the water – but despite their hard work, most of the whales died,” recalled Sara. Estimates vary, but around 50-60 whales lost their lives that day.


Whale strandings like this occur across the world. It is established that a wide range of triggers, including military sonar, could be responsible, but the phenomena is still not fully understood. Produced by the Indian Wildlife Channel, in partnership with Nature inFocus.

IWC - The Indian Wildlife Channel

IWC

The Indian Wildlife Channel

India has some incredible wildlife and yet we know so little about it. IWC is an online endeavour that brings you videos of unseen species, unique behaviour, cool facts and fun things from the fascinating world of Indian Wildlife. IWC posts as @IWC_Tweets on Twitter and as @the_indian_wildlife_channel on Instagram.

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