'Forever chemicals' are killing whales - and harming us

[Judi Lynn]

Ella Al-Shamahi
Their use is linked to the rise in whale strandings on British beaches, but partial bans keeps letting industry off the hook

Sat 11 Jun 2022 05.00 EDT

In the aftermath of 9/11, scientists noticed a curious impact on the stress hormones of North Atlantic right whales. Ships are ubiquitous in our oceans but, for a brief window, immediately after the planes flew into the twin towers, there was a dramatic drop in traffic along the North Atlantic eastern seaboard, reducing underwater noise. While the world above ground was reeling, our underwater neighbours were thriving.

So often we think of the golden age of whaling as being over. Japanese and Icelandic whaling ships are now pariahs in the international community. But too often, out of sight is out of mind, and it remains easy to ignore the impact of our actions above ground on marine life. However, whales are increasingly forcing us to take note, as more of them than ever are beaching on our shores.

Whales have always beached across UK coastlines, but there is nothing natural about this latest surge in whale deaths, which is why we decided to shadow marine stranding investigators (Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme in Scotland and the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme in England and Wales) exploring the rise in whale strandings on our island for Channel 4 – think CSI but for cetaceans.

When whales beach, especially large ones, it’s very likely that they will beach again. Their bodies are designed to work in water, but on land their sheer size crushes their insides and they start to boil alive. That’s part of the reason why there is a mad dash by British Divers Marine Life Rescue to get beached whales back into the water before their injuries become too great and they inevitably beach again.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/11/forever-chemicals-killing-whales-harming-humans-strandings-bans

[Duppers]

1. Yikes.

So sad. Hope they are able to save many of the beached ones. Too many dumb-assed Americans do not even know they're intelligent mammals who deserve to be saved.

🐋🐋🐋

Thanks for posting this, Judi.