Dying To Live: Pilot Whales

2 Pages 465 Words

On August 12 issue of Time magazine on pages 52-53, Frederic Golden published an article about endangered pilot whales (which are actually large dolphins), entitled “Death on the Sand”.
According to the article, fifty- five grounded pilot whales were found nearly dead in the shallows near the town of Dennis, Massachusetts. Rescuers were able to place forty-six pilot whales back into the sea, but failed to rescue nine of them. These nine pilot whales soon died or had to be injected with lethal amounts of sodium pentothal. Unfortunately the next morning, another six whales were found dead twenty-five miles away in a salt marsh. Scientist are unsure and inclusive of the deaths that so many whales faced in such a short time.
According to cetologist James Mead, the whales could have possibly died from eating poison fish. He also stated that it could have been negative reactions to the noise of a ships engine or perhaps, simply to escape predators. Dismissed theories include one stating that the sonic booms from the U.S. Navy submarine is to blame for the lethal damage to the whales’ hearing that disorients them and leads to shallow waters. The author points out that under their tremendous weight which slows circulation and causes organ failure, the grounded whales go into shock and prevents them from returning to the waters on their own. Lastly, scientists Joseph Geraci explains that pollution from humans and agricultural run offs increase toxicity in plankton, which is eventually digested by the whales and in turn, poisons them.
It is my belief that the author did not fully investigate the causes behind the incident but only gathered possible conclusions from available scientists who were not fully informed. I understand that in science, guesses are made and studied, that is how the scientific method is used. In biology, we were taught that first you must form a hypothesis, which is an educated guess. The hy...