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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Experts baffled as rarely seen beaked whales involved in series of strandings
A series of strandings of one of the world's deepest dwelling and most rarely seen types of whale in the last few days has left experts baffled over why they might have appeared in such numbers. Beaked whales are used to deep ocean waters and are so rarely seen that some species have only ever been identified through dead specimens. But on 26 and 27 July there were reports from western Ireland, Orkney in Scotland and the Netherlands of these whales being stranded, raising concerns that human actions could be implicated in the animals' deaths. 'When you see these divers in the shallow North Sea, you know that it's going to be a grim end,' said Dr Jeroen Hoekendijk, a marine scientist and photographer who attended the scene of the Netherlands stranding on 26 July. A male and a female were beached between Heemskerk and Wijk aan Zee, north of The Hague, where the sloping shores of the southern North Sea are a notorious black spot for whale strandings. 'When SOS Dolfijn [the Dutch cetacean rescue team] arrived on the scene the two whales were thrashing wildly in the surf,' said Hoekendijk. 'They were obviously animals in distress.' Although the whales were kept cool and wet with hoses, the male died soon after being found, and the second animal, a female, was euthanised to save it from further stress. On 27 July two True's beaked whales, a mother and calf, were found stranded in North Mayo, Ireland, according to Dr Simon Berrow of Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. The female died and the calf swam off, but is 'unlikely to survive', Berrow said. On the same weekend in Papa Westray, Orkney, four northern bottlenose whales, also a species of beaked whale, were found dead, said Dr Andrew Brownlow of the University of Glasgow. Brownlow and his colleagues from the Scottish Marine Stranding Scheme (SMASS) also attended last year's mass stranding of 77 pilot whales on Sanday, Orkney. 'July is a particularly bad month for strandings,' he told BBC Scotland. There may be natural reasons for these incidents – there was a suggestion that the 2024 Sanday event was caused by the pilot whales being pursued by a pod of orcas. But the human-induced climate emergency is also causing warming waters that alter feeding habits throughout the marine food chain. And with seismic surveys for oil and naval sonar exercises also implicated in other beaked whale strandings (these types of underwater disturbance can cause diving whales to surface too quickly, thereby suffering decompression sickness) the impact of increased military activity is also a possible reason for these strandings. Whereas other cetaceans – whales, dolphins or porpoises – can sometimes be refloated, beaked whales, possibly 100 miles (160km) or more from their natural environment, are already too stressed. 'They will not survive any attempt at a return since the animals won't be able to feed,' said Hoekendijk. Reporting on initial findings from the weekend, Brownlow said: 'We found extensive liver pathology in the bottlenoses, possibly consistent with acute starvation.' He added that there may have been 'anthropogenic noise disturbance'. SMASS and the University of Utrecht's strandings investigation team were quickly on the scenes, and were able to remove the carcasses for immediate necropsy. Their prompt action is especially important because evidence of any sonic disturbance that may have led to the whales' stranding can only be detected from swift examination of hair cells in the animal's inner ear. Once these have started to degrade, analysis becomes impossible. Despite being large animals – up to 13 metres long – beaked whales, so called for their prominent snouts or beaks, are among the least known of all cetaceans. Diving so deep in the dark ocean, they rely on echo-location to navigate and to find their food. They live in a world of sound, which is why anthropogenic or human-created noise pollution has such a serious effect on them. They also hold the record for the deepest and the longest dives of any animal. Cuvier's beaked whales, bearing satellite tags, have been tracked off the coast of California at up to 3,000 metres in depth.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Tyrone: Gaelic football camp moved over factory smell
A Gaelic football summer camp for children in County Tyrone has moved venues because of what organisers say is a "horrendous smell" which they believe is coming from a local compost at the factory in Killeshil involves the mixing of hay, chicken litter, and water to create a compost for mushroom site is owned by Sawgrass Substrates Ltd (SSL), following Northway Mushrooms going into administration in a statement, the company said it wished "to reassure the community that it remains fully compliant with all statutory requirements and operates strictly within the parameters of its relevant waste licenses". A spokesperson for SSL said: "The company is committed to being a responsible neighbour and takes all feedback seriously."People who live close to the factory in Killeeshil previously claimed their lives are being affected by a bad smell which, which they said was coming from the March 2024, residents protested outside Northway Mushrooms saying they had been living with the smell for later, the local school and GAA club said the smell was still affecting children's everyday May, members of the Cabragh Concerned Residents Association (CCRA) held another protest, this time outside Mid Ulster District Council's offices in Dungannon.A crowd of more than 200 people gathered to voice concerns about new planning proposals for the factory.A football summer camp has been running during at St Mary's GFC, which is close to the Tuesday evening, the GAA said it felt it had "no other choice but to relocate".In a social media post, the club said: "In the interests of the safety of our 90 children attending the camp and the 12 Tyrone coaches, who have been exposed to the most horrendous smell over the past two days from Sawgrass/Northway, we feel like we have been left with NO other choice but to relocate our Tyrone Summer camp."The summer camp has been moved to the Tyrone GAA Centre in Garvaghey for the remaining two days of activities. 'Lack of engagement' CCRA said SSL "has not engaged on odour issues in over two years, despite thousands of community complaints - nearly 250 in the past month alone - all explicitly sent to Sawgrass along with Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Mid Ulster District Council, and all ignored"."This stands in direct contradiction to their public claim that they take all feedback seriously and are committed to ongoing communication with the community and authorities," a spokesperson for CCRA said. Case review BBC News NI contacted Mid Ulster Council regarding concerns that had been raised about the factory a statement, a spokesperson for the council said: "Given the lengthy period and extent to which the council has received complaints in relation to this site, the council is currently undertaking a complete case review of this matter."It is anticipated that the case review process in respect of alleged statutory nuisance will be completed by the autumn."BBC News NI has also contacted the Northern Ireland Environment Agency for a statement regarding the odour concerns and the recent decision by the GAA club to move its summer of the CCRA have also raised concerns about works at the SSL factory, scheduled for a letter to Mid Ulster Council, SSL representatives said the intervention was "critical to resolving an emerging operational issue within the current biofilter system", but added that "a temporary and localised increase in odour may occur during the removal of the existing media and initial conditioning of the replacement system". Longer-term plan CCRA has raised concerns the works will "entirely disable the facility's sole line of defence against uncontrolled odour emissions". It has called for all operations at the facility to be fully suspended during the maintenance confirmed there were works planned between 4 and 15 August, which would see maintenance carried out on the said this work was "critical for the long-term effectiveness of its odour control system".A spokesperson said: "While a temporary and localised increase in odour may occur during the removal of existing media and the initial conditioning of the replacement system, every effort will be made to minimise any disruption to the community."This planned maintenance is a proactive measure to improve and maintain the facility's environmental performance."SSL said it had a longer-term plan in place which would involve an additional spokesperson added: "Sawgrass Substrates Ltd continues to work diligently to manage and mitigate any potential odour impacts from its operations. We are aware of the ongoing case review by Mid Ulster Council and will cooperate fully with their process."We are dedicated to ongoing communication with relevant authorities and the local community as we strive to maintain the highest environmental standards." A Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) spokesperson said SSL had informed the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) of planned maintenance to the biofilter added that the NIEA was continuing to receive reports about smells at the factory."The NIEA will maintain its regulatory oversight of the SSL facility throughout the maintenance period," the spokesperson said."This includes ongoing compliance checks and odour assessments. "Should any non-compliance be identified, the NIEA will take appropriate and proportionate action in accordance with the Daera Enforcement Policy."
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Experts baffled as rarely seen beaked whales involved in series of strandings
A series of strandings of one of the world's deepest dwelling and most rarely seen types of whale in the last few days has left experts baffled over why they might have appeared in such numbers. Beaked whales are used to deep ocean waters and are so rarely seen that some species have only ever been identified through dead specimens. But on 26 and 27 July there were reports from western Ireland, Orkney in Scotland and the Netherlands of these whales being stranded, raising concerns that human actions could be implicated in the animals' deaths. 'When you see these divers in the shallow North Sea, you know that it's going to be a grim end,' said Dr Jeroen Hoekendijk, a marine scientist and photographer who attended the scene of the Netherlands stranding on 26 July. A male and a female were beached between Heemskerk and Wijk aan Zee, north of The Hague, where the sloping shores of the southern North Sea are a notorious black spot for whale strandings. 'When SOS Dolfijn [the Dutch cetacean rescue team] arrived on the scene the two whales were thrashing wildly in the surf,' said Hoekendijk. 'They were obviously animals in distress.' Although the whales were kept cool and wet with hoses, the male died soon after being found, and the second animal, a female, was euthanised to save it from further stress. On 27 July two Sowerby's beaked whales, a mother and calf, were found stranded in North Mayo, Ireland, according to Dr Simon Berrow of Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. The female died and the calf swam off, but is 'unlikely to survive', Berrow said. On the same weekend in Papa Westray, Orkney, four northern bottlenose whales, also a species of beaked whale, were found dead, said Dr Andrew Brownlow of the University of Glasgow. Brownlow and his colleagues from the Scottish Marine Stranding Scheme (SMASS) also attended last year's mass stranding of 77 pilot whales on Sanday, Orkney. 'July is a particularly bad month for strandings,' he told BBC Scotland. There may be natural reasons for these incidents – there was a suggestion that the 2024 Sanday event was caused by the pilot whales being pursued by a pod of orcas. But the human-induced climate emergency is also causing warming waters that alter feeding habits throughout the marine food chain. And with seismic surveys for oil and naval sonar exercises also implicated in other beaked whale strandings (these types of underwater disturbance can cause diving whales to surface too quickly, thereby suffering decompression sickness) the impact of increased military activity is also a possible reason for these strandings. Whereas other cetaceans – whales, dolphins or porpoises – can sometimes be refloated, beaked whales, possibly 100 miles (160km) or more from their natural environment, are already too stressed. 'They will not survive any attempt at a return since the animals won't be able to feed,' said Hoekendijk. Reporting on initial findings from the weekend, Brownlow said: 'We found extensive liver pathology in the bottlenoses, possibly consistent with acute starvation.' He added that there may have been 'anthropogenic noise disturbance'. SMASS and the University of Utrecht's strandings investigation team were quickly on the scenes, and were able to remove the carcasses for immediate necropsy. Their prompt action is especially important because evidence of any sonic disturbance that may have led to the whales' stranding can only be detected from swift examination of hair cells in the animal's inner ear. Once these have started to degrade, analysis becomes impossible. Despite being large animals – up to 13 metres long – beaked whales, so called for their prominent snouts or beaks, are among the least known of all cetaceans. Diving so deep in the dark ocean, they rely on echo-location to navigate and to find their food. They live in a world of sound, which is why anthropogenic or human-created noise pollution has such a serious effect on them. They also hold the record for the deepest and the longest dives of any animal. Cuvier's beaked whales, bearing satellite tags, have been tracked off the coast of California at up to 3,000 metres in depth.
