Wildlife

Did Human Noise Pollution Drive 150 Whales To Beach Themselves in Australia?

A commercial fisherman in Australia spotted an alarming site this morning: Upward of 100 whales were stranded and dying on a beach at Hamelin Bay, about 180 miles (300 kilometers) south of Perth. (And we're all pulling for a happy ending.)

Rescuers rushed to the scene, but only 15 of the 150 whales, thought to be short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), were still alive as of 12 p.m. local time, the Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions reported.

The 15 still-breathing whales were in shallow waters, and rescuers planned to herd them into deeper water by late afternoon.

It's unclear why the whales became stranded in this case. It's thought that the species is vulnerable to loud, human-made sounds, such as those made by navy sonar. Researchers have yet to show a conclusive cause-and-effect relationship between noise pollution and beached G. macrorhynchus whales, but other mass-stranding events involving this species have happened during times of high human-made noise in the environment, according a 2006 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.