Natural threads / Mass strandings
There are no signs of predation by, for example, killer whales but every year hundreds of pilot whales are mass stranded on shores at different places in the world. Mass standings are not equal over the world, they occur often in New Zealand, the country has de highest rate of mass strandings in the world.
Marine animals can get stranded ashore for many different reasons, but it can be a bit of mystery. The reasons where scientists are thinking of are human activity like underwater noise, changes in water temperature, tempting prey near the coast, disease or even mass confusion when the animals get disoriented by geographic features while swimming
Out of the water, the inability to regulate body temperature, and unnatural weight and pressure on an animal’s organs can cause severe internal injury or death. The prognosis for larger whales is therefore particularly poor.
Photo: IWC.int, Project Jonah