DID PILOT WHALES GET STRANDED AT KALPITIYA BEACH AS A RESULT OF THE RECENT EARTHQUAKES?

Unfortunately, thousands of Turkish people lost their lives due to the recent earthquake in Turkey. Within a period of a few days, there were several small-scale earthquakes affecting the areas like Buttala and Wellawaya in Uva province, Sri Lanka. Though the geologists have confirmed that Sri Lanka is not at risk of a massive earthquake, many Sri Lankans fear the situation. Meanwhile, the unexpected gathering of a group of whales at Kudawa beach in the Kalpitiya area became controversial. Some social media posts said there is an interrelationship between the earthquake in Turkey, the small-scale earthquake in Sri Lanka, and the stranding of these whales. This is the investigation we have done in this regard.

Social Media Posts

The following social media posts were published from Sinhala language, linking the stranding of whales in Kalpitiya and earthquakes

Facebook | Archived

Here is another Facebook post related to this

Facebook | Archived

This is how the social media posts related to the whale stranding that happened in Cyprus had spread

Facebook | Archived

Our team conducted a fact check on this incident.

Explanation:

Last Saturday (11^th February), a herd of whales was stranded at Kudawa beach in Kalpitiya. It was reported that at least 14 whales were in the stranded pack. The species of the whales were identified as pilot whales.

Here, with the significant contribution of the Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Police, and Wildlife department, these whales were released into the ocean. But three of them were already dead before being released, and another was stranded on the shore again. News report regarding here. Video news report here.

The day before this incident (10th February), a minor earthquake of 3 magnitudes occurred in Wellawaya, Buttala, and Monaragala areas. News report here.

With this series of unusual events recently, various opinions and threats started to expand throughout social media. However, a common opinion is developing in society that earthquakes and whale stranding incidents are connected.

Whales and Dolphins in Sri Lanka

Whales and Dolphins cannot be found throughout the year around the Sri Lankan coastline. They are usually found in the coastal areas of Sri Lanka between October and March. The whale and dolphin-watching hot spots in Sri Lanka are Mirissa, Trincomalee, and Kalpitiya.

The most common aquatic mammal species which can be found around Sri Lanka are blue whales, sperm whales, humpback whales, Bryde’s whales, and spinner dolphins. Also pilot whales can be seen as well.

There are two main reasons for finding these aquatic mammals periodically near the surface of the water in the coastal line. First, they are their migratory patterns and food patterns.

In 2008, Sri Lanka started to be known as the best place to visit to watch whales and especially blue whales. Whales are reported to have migrated to the Sri Lankan coast to fulfill their food needs. The phytoplankton-fed sea beds of Sri Lanka provide habitat for organisms suitable as whale food, such as krill. Furthermore, seasonal changes in the northeast and southeast monsoons also affect on migratory patterns of these whales.

For more information, refer here

The tropical ocean around Sri Lanka is the habitat for some aquatic mammal species. They can be found near the water surface due to their respiratory and feeding needs.

Stranding of whales and dolphins

Stranding of whales and dolphins is not a rare event in the world. The closest incident for this in Sri Lanka was on November 2020. Then, there were more than 100 of the same species as this time; pilot whales on Panadura beach.

The news report on the 2020 whale stranding incident is here. Another article here

Also, another similar incident was reported in 2017 from the Eastern seaboard, for that report here

Not only from Sri Lanka but even from other countries such as Australia, and New Zealand, these news reports can be found from time to time—report on New Zealand incidents here. Likewise, information on a similar incident from Australia here

It is a particular point that in all the above cases, the aquatic mammal species stranded on the shore are the same species of pilot whales.

Pilot Whales Globicephala sp.

Pilot whales are known as a species of whales, but that is not entirely true. They are a dolphin species that belong to the Delphinidae family. They are small in size.

Pilot whales have round, bulging foreheads with beaklike snouts and slender pointed flippers. They bear teeth. Pilot whales can be found in groups in the ocean.

There are two main species of pilot whales due to their size and fin type. They are long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhuynchus). The long-finned species is a bit larger than the short-finned species.

Short-finned species can be easily found around every ocean except the Arctic ocean. But the long-finned pilot whales are less common. They cannot be found not only in the Arctic Ocean but also in tropical oceans as well.

Reasons for Pilot whale stranding

For further knowledge on the 14 stranded pilot whale incident, the Senior Scientist of Kapparathota Regional Research Centre od NARA, Dr. Upul Liyanage, was contacted by the Fact Crescendo team.

Dr. Upul said that this is an incident that is repeatedly happening. He also commented that short-finned pilot whales reside in tropical oceans and don’t have any specific migratory patterns.

And also highlighted that there can be a few reasons for the stranding of pilot whales.

These aquatic mammals use geomagnetic fields while traveling as a navigation system. More about the geomagnetic field navigation system from here. So, pilot whales are sensitive to the world’s geomagnetic field changes.

Usually, as pilot whales travel as a group, the group’s leader is the one who uses its navigation system and finds the path. With a change in the geomagnetic field, the leader correctly misleads the group. All the others in the group also follow the leader. With that, the whole group can be lost.

According to Dr. Upul’s explanation, also these pilot whales use echolocation to find their path and avoid disturbances in their way, just like other dolphins and bats. Refer here for more details on echolocation.

When the leader and the group mistake their destination and travel into shallow water areas for the reasons mentioned above, pilot whales cannot use echolocation as it doesn’t support them in shallow waters. So, they swim outside the sea with the support of the waves and get stranded on the shore.

And Dr. Upul commented that this situation of pilot whales could occur because of a parasitic infection. They also can mislead the pilot whales away from the deep sea.

The effect of the earthquake on 10^th February on the pilot whale stranding on 11^th February

As mentioned above, there is a possible connection between the recent earthquakes and the pilot whale stranding because of the pilot whale’s sensitivity to the geomagnetic field.

But there are no records of the changes in geomagnetic fields in the world, along with any recent earthquakes. So, Dr. Upul Liyanage mentioned that there is not enough evidence to confirm any connection between these incidents.

Reasons for the deaths of 4 pilot whales out of 14?

Dolphins and whales are aquatic mammals. So, they don’t use gills as their respiratory organs. Instead, they use lungs just like humans and other mammals—more information on pilot whales and other aquatic mammals’ respiration here.

Therefore, pilot whales cannot breathe even in the shore area or terrestrial environments. But aquatic species usually show particular adaptations for their lives in marine environments. As an example, their muscles show adaptations for aquatic life. They are not suitable for life outside of water.

Pilot whales are heavy, and in the water, they have the support to control their weight from the upthrust. However, when they enter the terrestrial area, they lose the support from up thrust, the weight of the muscles and organs of their own body feel strained. This also can be responsible for their deaths.

Also, with the terrestrial temperature, straight sunlight, and less humidity, their sensitive skin may dry, and the pilot whales can dehydrate.

Dr. Upul Liyanage commented that the possible reason for their death should be exhaustion. But still, not enough evidence and research were conducted to prove any scientific reasons for their deaths.

In response to our question, Dr. Liyanage said that his short-finned pilot whales are more sensitive to the environment than the other aquatic mammal species changes, which is why they face unfortunate incidents like this often.

How to react in such a situation?

Releasing the pilot whales to the deep ocean was conducted by Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Police, and Wildlife Conservation Department, along with the help of most residents nearby and the fishermen. Also, in previous similar conditions, people managed to most stranded whales into the ocean unaffectedly.

Senior lecturer Dr. Chamari Dissanayake from the Aquatic and Marine biology department of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura said that these stranded aquatic mammals should be taken into the deep sea as possible. If not, they may again lose and leave again to the shore. The standard method is dragging them by the boats by tying them to the ships by rope without damaging them.

The way that international media had reported this incident here. Another article from another country is here.

However, a whale stranding incident was reported in Cyprus, a country that is in a closer march to Turkey and Syria. A scholar in the fisheries and naval affairs in that country,  Yiannis Loannou, had voiced to the media that the dolphin and whale navigation echolocation system had been interrupted by the recent earthquakes. For that reason, they may be stranded on the shore. To access more about that, here

However, there is not enough evidence to prove any relationship or connection between the stranding of the pilot whales to Kalpitiya and recent earthquakes in Sri Lanka.

-With Inputs from Mihiri Saparamadhu–