Well, I guess SOMEONE had to ask the question.Department of Conservation says yesterday's whale stranding in the Bay of Plenty had nothing to do with sonar being used to salvage containers from the Rena.
Four Raised Beaked whales died at Papamoa Beach, just down the coast from Tauranga. Three were dead when found and the fourth died soon after.
Project Jonah (an organisation dedicated to protecting marine life - and seemingly for smelling conspiracy theories too) suggested there could be a link to the stranded Rena, as sonar can cause a loud explosion in the water that can injure nearby whales.
But could it have been a flatulent swimmer? Or possibly a stealth submarine in the vacinity, pilfering from the Rena wreck...
Sadly, no. DOC has confirmed the whales were simply feeding too close to the shore and became stranded.
The whales were two feeding juveniles, and two lactating females. DOC says it looks like a juvenile stranded and the others stranded as they supported it. DOC has taken samples from the whales to test for toxicity, and to ascertain if the animals ingested anything dangerous.
Project Jonah's CEO Kimberly Muncaster says sonar could have been a factor, as hearing is crucial to whales' survival: they use it to hunt
and communicate. For the benefit and continued education of any journalists reading, please note these pictures are of BEAKED whales - NOT like the 3News story which featured file pix of stranded PILOT whales!
All whales are NOT created equal. Neither, it would seem, are journalists...
No comments:
Post a Comment