Since the middle of January this year, 29 stranded sperm whales have been reported on European beaches. There have been about a dozen in the North Sea alone—which includes coastlines in the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany. Exactly why those sperm whales have been traveling into the North Sea—known for its shallow coastlines—is not exactly known.
The six whales that washed up on British beaches have all been males. Marsh said: “The females and calves stay in warmer waters and the males leave as they become sexually active and form bachelor pods. They will then go back to the warmer areas on an annual basis to mate.
“We don’t know if they were trying to migrate down to the tropics but there’s no sign yet of any manmade activity that would cause them to come in, but that is being investigated.”
Before we begin to throw people under the bus, there is evidence here that although beached and dying whales are a tragic piece of news, this may be a sign of sperm whale recovery.
Mass strandings of sperm whales are not uncommon in the region historically, with sightings dating back to the 16th century. In the 1760s, six of the 15 metre-long, 35-ton whales swam into the river Thames before dying.
From the 19th century onwards, however, as whale hunting intensified, there were fewer such incidents.
Experts said the latest beachings could be a sign of a recovery in the sperm whale population following protection measures passed in the 1980s. The species is currently listed as "vulnerable" by nature authorities.
Sperm whales are enormous and majestic creatures. It’s this grand size that fails them when they find themselves out of water. The chances of saving them are very slim. Their organs begin to fail quickly and their size makes it that much more difficult to float them.