Big fish! 12 big dolphin-like fish by the sea!
At 8:00 a.m. on July 6, at the Toumen Port Wharf in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, some people found that there were some "big fish" stranded on the coast, and quickly contacted the professional department to come to the rescue. So, what kind of animals are these "big fish"?
(Photo caption: Stranded melon head whale)
When experts arrived at the scene, they recognized that it was a group of melon-headed whales. They can go the wrong way in unexpected situations, eventually leading to stranding.
Throughout the process, the local people, under the leadership of experts, showed us perfectly how to rescue stranded cetaceans:
The first is to contact the relevant departments and professionals to deal with, if you can't find these phones, it doesn't matter, you can directly call the police;
Straighten the stranded body of the cetacean so that its back (mainly the breathing hole, i.e., the "nose" of the cetacean) is facing upwards, and a pit is dug under each of the two pectoral fins to avoid injury;
Take care to clean the breathing holes of the cetacean to prevent it from suffocation;
Constantly pour water on the cetacean to keep its body moist. Especially in the sun, try to put umbrellas or towels on them to prevent sun exposure;
(Photo caption: Local people set up sunscreen nets for stranded whales and dolphins)
Cetaceans are very sensitive to sound, so don't make unnecessary noises;
Next, it is the work of professionals, the stranded whales and dolphins are physically examined, and the healthy ones are sent back to the sea, and those who are injured or infected with the disease themselves must be cared for in a special medical rescue center and released after recovery.
In addition, when rescuing a stranded cetacean, pay attention to it, do not get close to its head and tail, to prevent it from being injured when it struggles.
So, what kind of animal is the melon head whale?
Melonhead whales belong to the order Cetaceans, Dolphins, Pilot Whale subfamily, melonhead whales, is a pantropical oceanic cetacean. They have a very wide range, but are limited to a range between 20° north and south latitudes.
Compared with blue whales or sperm whales, melon-headed whales are relatively small, with a body length of about 2.75 meters and a weight of 275 kilograms. Its body is dark gray , and its head does not have a longer beak like other dolphins , but it has a large number of teeth, which once became the standard for identifying this cetacean.
(Photo caption: Melon head whale)
Guatou whales are extremely gregarious, and the number of a population can reach hundreds or even more than 1,000. During the migration process, they often make huge splashes on the surface of the sea, which is very spectacular.
Usually, melon-headed whales feed on fish, squid and occasionally crustaceans. Because these prey live in the deep sea, these melon-headed whales are also basically completely infested in the ocean range, and may go deep into deep waters 1500 meters below the surface. Therefore, biologists' understanding of this creature is still relatively limited, and only when they are stranded will they have better research opportunities.
However, we do not want to gain too much through such opportunities. Learning about these creatures could be obtained through more research in the future, rather than at the expense of the tragic fate of the cetaceans. So why do these melon-headed whales run aground? Since cetaceans breathe with their lungs like us, why can't they survive on shore?
Cases of cetacean strandings occur from time to time, and it is not uncommon. As early as two thousand years ago, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle recorded the stranding of cetaceans. In China's ancient books, such as the "Wei Wu Four-Hour Food System", there are also records of cetacean stranding.
(Caption: Stranded sperm whale)
In modern times, there are more cases of cetacean strandings. The British Museum began documenting cetacean strandings in 1913, and by 1974, it had recorded 1,550 strandings! On February 24 and 25, 2002, 10 and 85 melon whales ran aground on the beach 90 kilometers east of Tokyo, Japan; on March 12, 2017, a sperm whale stranded and died in the waters of Dapeng Bay in Shenzhen, and there was an embryonic sperm whale in its body...
So why are these cetaceans stranded? Scientists analyze that there are probably the following reasons -
Topographical, meteorological reasons: Some people believe that many of the cases of cetacean stranding occur on the shore with gentle slopes, perhaps they have distorted under this terrain while exploring the way through ultrasound, and finally went the wrong way. Or global warming leads to changes in ocean currents, which can also mislead cetaceans;
(Photo caption: Cetacean strandings are not uncommon)
Reasons for habits: For gregarious cetaceans, sometimes when the leader falls ill or is killed and drifts to the shore, other members will follow the shore. As for the reasons, some people think that it is martyrdom, some people think that it is rescue, in short, in the end, it ends in stranding;
Reasons for predation: Sometimes, cetaceans forget their location during the process of predation, and chase farther and farther until they run aground;
Causes of human activities: Human activities, especially the sonar of some ships, can interfere with the navigation of cetaceans, causing them to get lost, which is also one of the reasons for stranding.
In addition, some scientists have put forward many conjectures such as the theory of return to the ancestors, the theory of geomagnetism, the theory of suicide, the theory of disease, and so on. To this day, the cetacean stranded puzzle remains unsolved, and perhaps for both.
(Photo caption: The mystery of the cetacean stranding is still unsolved)
About 50 million years ago, the ancestors of cetaceans began to live in the sea. To this day, cetaceans are still mammals like us because they share the same physiology as other distant relatives.
This will make many people wonder: since cetaceans are also mammals and can breathe with their lungs, why do they die when they come to land?
In fact, on land, the cetaceans' breathing is not a problem, but the other troubles are enough to kill them.
Cetaceans are huge and a burden for the skeleton to support the body and protect the internal organs. In the ocean, there is the buoyancy of the seawater, and they don't have to worry about this problem. Once stranded on land, their bodies can't stand it, which can lead to breathing difficulties and even organ failure. This is one of the reasons why marine life can grow much larger than terrestrial animals;
Seawater not only provides buoyancy, but also cools the body of the cetacean and keeps it at a reasonable body temperature. The remaining seawater on the surface of the stranded cetacean's body will soon evaporate, not only can it no longer cool down, but the cetacean will further heat up under the sun's exposure, resulting in death.
I have to say that when it came to the rescue of these melon-headed whales, our masses were so cute. Everyone has worked tirelessly to serve these melon whales all day long. It can be said that without them, these melon-headed whales would probably die.
(Photo caption: Local enthusiastic people have come to the rescue)
Even so, the results were unsatisfactory. Despite everyone's efforts, 3 whales died, but fortunately the other 9 had good vital signs. Professionals have sent them to some professional places for observation, and where they will be in the future is still subject to further discussion.
As the largest animal on Earth, whales seem to have a strong survival advantage. But in this way, they also have their own weaknesses. In addition to natural factors, human activities have also become one of the reasons for the stranding of cetaceans. Their survival is already so difficult, let's not burden them anymore!