In less than two weeks, five elusive, rarely seen beaked whales turn up on shores

Several rarely seen beaked whales, which are usually found in deeper waters, have been spotted near the shore or even stranded, all in very quick succession.

On July 19, off the coast of the Netherlands, as many as three beaked whales were present very close to a beach. The local residents had to step in to form a human barricade and ward the whales away from the shore.

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In the caption of a social media post, sharing the video of the whales, SOS Dolphin Foundation said, “Despite the fact that the species is a deep-sea whale and does not have a particularly good chance in the North Sea, we hope that the animals will be able to leave the North Sea again.”

Beaked whales are a broad group of 24 species of rare, reclusive whales.

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It is reported that beaked whales can grow to lengths of up to 42 feet, and are unique among marine mammals for selectively diving to extreme depths to hunt. They can exceed 9,000 feet in depth when diving, and can spend nearly four hours holding their breath underwater.

In the North Sea in particular, the structure of the seafloor is a major factor in beaked whales becoming stranded.

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According to Rob Deaville, the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) project manager at the Zoological Society of London, while many beaked whales wash up on the shore having died of other causes (such as predation and man-made drivers including plastic pollution and noise pollution) the shape of the North Sea is conducive to species like beaked whales ending up on the shore by accident.