Last “Atypical” Beaked Whales Mass Stranding in the Canary Islands(July, 2004)

Fernández, Antonio

doi:10.4172/2155-9910.1000107

Cited by 27 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Animals with gas-and fat-embolism syndrome included 10 Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) that had evidence of lesions consistent with a severe decompression process associated with the use of sonar during military maneuvers. 29,30 Diffuse, mild to moderate acute monophasic myonecrosis (hyaline degeneration) was a common feature in this group of animals, although additional pathological findings included the ''disintegration'' of interstitial connective tissue and related structures (intramuscular nerves, adipose tissue, and/or intrafusal muscle fibers) and their replacement by large amount of amorphous hyaline material, which was assumed to be degraded material. A previous association between arterial gas embolism, decompression sickness, and rhabdomyolysis (as suggested by elevated levels of plasma creatine kinase) has been reported.…”

Section: Degenerative Muscle Changesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Muscle Pathology in Free-Ranging Stranded Cetaceans

et al. 2016

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Despite the profound impact that skeletal muscle disorders may pose for the daily activities of wild terrestrial and marine mammals, such conditions have been rarely described in cetaceans. In this study, the authors aimed to determine the nature and prevalence of skeletal muscle lesions in small and large odontocetes and mysticetes ( n = 153) from 19 different species. A macroscopic evaluation of the epaxial muscle mass and a histologic examination of the longissimus dorsi muscle were performed in all cases. The only macroscopically evident change was variable degrees of atrophy of the epaxial muscles ( longissimus dorsi, multifidus, spinalis) in emaciated specimens. The histopathological study revealed single or combined morphological changes in 91.5% of the cases. These changes included the following: degenerative lesions (75.2%), muscle atrophy (37.9%), chronic myopathic changes (25.5%), parasitic infestation (9.2%), and myositis (1.9%). The skeletal muscle is easily sampled during a necropsy and provides essential microscopic information that reflects both local and systemic conditions. Thus, skeletal muscle should be systematically sampled, processed, and examined in all stranded cetaceans.

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Section: Degenerative Muscle Changesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Muscle Pathology in Free-Ranging Stranded Cetaceans

et al. 2016

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“…Autopsies of three beaked whales stranded in the Canary Islands found no inflammatory or neoplastic disease (potentially responsible for the cause of death) in any organs taken from them (Fernandez et al 2012). Coincidentally, of the strandings that tested positive or 'suspect positive' for Brucella, 42 (77.8%) of them occurred within 7 days (79.2%) of a geomagnetic storm.…”

Section: Pathogen Causesmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Some hypotheses include naval exercises involving sonar, diseases, global warming, lunar cycles, anomalies in weather and ocean bottom topography, parasitism and chemical or noise pollutants, to mention a few (Klinowska 1985;Perrin & Geraci 2002;Walker et al 2005;Brownell et al 2009;D'Amico et al 2009;Morell 2009;Hays 2011;Fernandez et al 2012). Some hypotheses include naval exercises involving sonar, diseases, global warming, lunar cycles, anomalies in weather and ocean bottom topography, parasitism and chemical or noise pollutants, to mention a few (Klinowska 1985;Perrin & Geraci 2002;Walker et al 2005;Brownell et al 2009;D'Amico et al 2009;Morell 2009;Hays 2011;Fernandez et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cetacean beachings correlate with geomagnetic disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere: an example of how astronomical changes impact the future of life

Ferrari

2016

International Journal of Astrobiology

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The beaching and stranding of whales and dolphins around the world has been mystifying scientists for centuries. Although many theories have been proposed, few are substantiated by unequivocal statistical evidence. Advances in the field of animal magnetoreception have established that many organisms, including cetaceans, have an internal 'compass,' which they use for orientation when traveling long distances. Astrobiology involves not only the origin and distribution of life in the universe, but also the scientific study of how extraterrestrial conditions affect evolution of life on planet Earth. The focus of this study is how cetacean life is influenced by disturbances in its environment that originate from an astrological phenomenonin the present study that involves solar flares and cetacean beachings. Solar storms are caused by major coronal eruptions on the Sun. Upon reaching Earth, they cause disturbances in Earth's normally stable magnetosphere. Unable to follow an accurate magnetic bearing under such circumstances, cetaceans lose their compass reading while travelling and, depending on their juxtaposition and nearness to land, eventually beach themselves. (1) This hypothesis was supported by six separate, independent surveys of beachings: (A) in the Mediterranean Sea, (B) the northern Gulf of Mexico, (C) the east and (D) west coasts of the USA and two surveys (E and F) from around the world. When the six surveys were pooled (1614 strandings), a highly significant correlation (R 2 = 0.981) of when strandings occurred with when major geomagnetic disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere occurred was consistent with this hypothesis. (2) Whale and dolphin strandings in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the USA were correlated (R 2 = 0.919, R 2 = 0.924) with the number of days before and after a geomagnetic storm. (3) Yearly strandings were correlated with annual geomagnetic storm days. (4) Annual beachings of cetaceans from 1998 to 2012 were linearly correlated (R 2 = 0.751) with frequency of annual sunspot numbers. Thus, consistently strong statistical correlation evidence indicates that an astronomical phenomenonsolar flarescan cause cetaceans to change their behaviour and become disoriented, which eventually causes them to swim onto a shore and beach themselves.

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“…As such, a successful predator abatement strategy shaped by natural selection has become maladaptive in the face of novel human activities. Given the vast zones over which mid-frequency navy sonars are audible and so may impact the behaviour of beaked whales [32][33][34][35] , large-scale spatial avoidance of beaked whale habitats when mid-frequency sonar is used should provide the most effective mitigation measure for these cryptic species 56 .…”

Section: Silent Ascent Swimmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of Killer Whales Drives Extreme Synchrony in Deep Diving Beaked Whales

Soto

Visser

Tyack

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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fear of predation can induce profound changes in the behaviour and physiology of prey species even if predator encounters are infrequent. for echolocating toothed whales, the use of sound to forage exposes them to detection by eavesdropping predators, but while some species exploit social defences or produce cryptic acoustic signals, deep-diving beaked whales, well known for mass-strandings induced by navy sonar, seem enigmatically defenceless against their main predator, killer whales. Here we test the hypothesis that the stereotyped group diving and vocal behaviour of beaked whales has benefits for abatement of predation risk and thus could have been driven by fear of predation over evolutionary time. Biologging data from 14 Blainville's and 12 Cuvier's beaked whales show that group members have an extreme synchronicity, overlapping vocal foraging time by 98% despite hunting individually, thereby reducing group temporal availability for acoustic detection by killer whales to <25%. Groups also perform a coordinated silent ascent in an unpredictable direction, covering a mean of 1 km horizontal distance from their last vocal position. This tactic sacrifices 35% of foraging time but reduces by an order of magnitude the risk of interception by killer whales. these predator abatement behaviours have likely served beaked whales over millions of years, but may become maladaptive by playing a role in mass strandings induced by man-made predator-like sonar sounds. Deep-diving marine mammals are expected to maximise time spent foraging in deep prey layers to offset the energetic and physiological costs of diving 1. But Cuvier's and Blainville's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris and Mesoplodon densirostris, respectively) employ a diving behaviour unlike that of other deep-diving toothed whales: they restrict echolocation to the deepest part of long and deep foraging dives that are typically followed by extended series of shallower and silent non-foraging dives that result in less than 20% of time devoted to biosonar-mediated foraging 2-5. Further, these species ascend slowly and silently from deep dives at a low pitch angle 2. This unusual and costly diving style has been interpreted as serving to mitigate decompression sickness or to accommodate lactate build up from foraging dives that may exceed the aerobic dive limit 6 , but, see 7. However, satisfactory physiological mechanisms to support these interpretations have yet to be found. When other toothed whales dive to similar depths, they do not display such a diving behaviour: both pilot whales that are similar in size to these beaked whales and the larger sperm whales ascend nearly vertically from their deep foraging dives 8,9 and often emit calls during the ascent to mediate reunion with non-diving group members 10-13. Because the highly stereotyped group diving and vocal behaviour of beaked whales is difficult to explain by foraging niche or physiology 2 an alternate proposition is that it serves to abate predation risk 2,4,14. Fear of predation can induce profound...

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Last “Atypical” Beaked Whales Mass Stranding in the Canary Islands(July, 2004)

Cited by 27 publications

References 9 publications

Muscle Pathology in Free-Ranging Stranded Cetaceans

Muscle Pathology in Free-Ranging Stranded Cetaceans

Cetacean beachings correlate with geomagnetic disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere: an example of how astronomical changes impact the future of life

Fear of Killer Whales Drives Extreme Synchrony in Deep Diving Beaked Whales

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