Agony on a Cornish beach: What do whale strandings tell us about our oceans?

A whale's tail whistles high in the air, stopping at the peak of its stretch before thumping into the hard, rocky ground. The noise is sickening, the sound of two things coming together that were never meant to come together. In the UK, encounters with megafauna are rare, so it was truly shocking to see this colossal creature washed up and out of breath on the Cornish coast last March. We later find out that it is a 19-meter (63-foot), 80-ton fin whale - the second largest creature on Earth.

Some first on the scene are members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service (BDMLR), one of many organizations called upon when a cetacean (whale, dolphin or porpoise) crashes on shore. In recent years, reports of cetacean strandings on UK shores have reached record levels, with many mass strandings and a wider variety of species appearing on beaches. Already in 2023, there have been reports of a fin whale stranded in Cornwall in January and a stranded porpoise dying on the Yorkshire coast this month.

Since 1990 all cetacean strandings have been investigated by the UK's Cetacean Stranding Investigation Program (CSIP), jointly funded by the UK, Welsh and Welsh Governments Scottish. His findings point to a changing marine environment where human influence greatly affects marine animals. "model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-5h0uf4">According to Rob Deaville, Project Manager at...