Whales are huge centenarians. The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth – it is larger than dinosaurs. He can live from 80 to 90 years! The bowhead whale, a slightly smaller species, can live for over 200 years.
But over time, this huge amazing animal comes to an end. How do whales die? Can they drown if they live in water? Are there predators that hunt whales?
Read on to find answers to these questions and learn how whales “live” deep in the oceans after death.
How do whales die?
The causes of death of whales can be natural or anthropogenic. Below are some of the most common causes of death.
# 1. How whales die: ship strikes
Adult whales often rest or swim slowly near the surface of the water. With a small number of natural predators, whales are unlikely to retreat with fear when they see or hear a large ship on the horizon.
Just as a vehicle such as an automobile can injure or kill pets and wildlife, large ships pose a danger to whales. Ships can be many times the size of a whale if they move quickly. A shock can cause concussion, internal injury, or bleeding. If the whale survives the collision, a head injury could prevent it from feeding or an infection could begin. A sick whale is more likely to land ashore, another cause of death discussed below.
How often do ship collisions occur? According to some estimates, at least 80 whales are attacked by ships every year. Scientists have also used trackers to track whale activity in relation to ships. One blue whale sailed erratically around the Pacific for several months, turning frequently and changing course to avoid the busy shipping lanes crossing the sea.
2. How whales die: pollution
Solid and liquid pollution from human activities pose a serious threat to all aquatic animals. Fishing nets are especially dangerous for whales. Big or small whales can get confused. If they cannot surface, they will soon drown. Whales also suffered from hunger when free-floating nets clung to their heads, preventing them from feeding. In some cases, the nets cut through the flesh or cut off blood circulation to the fin, causing an infection.
Whales can be affected by liquid pollutants in the water or air pollution. Continuous exposure can lead to cancerous growths. Some of the stranded whales were also seen clogged with plastic waste in their bellies. This can lead to poisoning or starvation, as enough indigestible substances can accumulate so that the whale can no longer swallow food.
3. How whales die: going ashore
Docking occurs when whales swim in shallow water and get stuck when they ride the waves to the beach or when the tide goes away, leaving the whale on land or in shallow water. A whale’s own weight, usually supported by water, can crush its organs or cause suffocation. The thick fat that keeps it warm in water can cause it to overheat on land. Dehydration and drowning during hot flashes can also cause death.
Stranded whales can live on land for only a few hours. The tide or the help of humans or other whales can help them reach deep waters again.
Why do whales come ashore? Toothed whales such as killer whales swim to beaches in search of prey, such as seals or penguins. Ashore incidents also included illness, injury, nets and parasites.
4. How whales die: predators
Adult whales, especially larger whales, rarely fear attacks from predators. However, calves can be targeted by sharks, killer whales, or even polar bears if they stray too far from their mother’s care.
On rare occasions, large flocks of killer whales have been observed hunting, killing, and eating humpback whales, gray whales, and even blue whales. In the case of the blue whale, more than 50 killer whales were involved in the pursuit.
However, the most dangerous predator for whales is humans. We will discuss this in detail below.
5. How whales die: disease
Like humans and other mammals, whales can get sick. Cuts and scrapes can be infected with bacteria or parasites. If the whale’s immune system cannot fight the invaders, it will die. The disease can affect the release of whales ashore, for example, when many beluga whales infected with toxoplasmosis find themselves ashore near the mouth of St. Lawrence. Whales can also die from childbirth difficulties.
6. How whales die: hunger
Many whale species migrate in search of food, starving for months between feeding grounds. If a whale becomes sick or injured and cannot swim to its feeding site at the right time, it may starve. Climate change is also a problem. For example, humpback whales feed on huge shoals of krill near Antarctica at certain times of the year. If global warming intensifies, the krill cycle could change. If whale migration patterns do not adapt, many of them can die from lack of food.
Other whales feed on schooling fish. Overfishing by humans has reduced populations of many important fish species.
7. How whales die: hunting
Fruitful hunting for whales for their “oil” nearly led to the extinction of many species over a century ago. The ship’s crews spotted a whale near the surface and fired at it with a harpoon, a barbed metal arrow attached to a rope. The whale could pull the boat for several days until he got tired and died. As whaling declined, some whale populations returned abruptly.
Today, whaling is banned in most countries in the world. The exceptions are Japan, Iceland and Norway, where whales are still hunted for meat, fat, fat and cartilage. Hunters kill over a thousand whales every year.
These animals can also become victims of by-catch when they are caught with nets or traps designed for different types of fish. It is estimated that about 300,000 whales are by-catch each year. Some of them are discovered and released by responsible fishermen, while others drown, unable to rise to the surface to breathe.
What happens after death?
When a whale dies, gases from the decomposition of its tissues can cause the carcass to float. High tides can carry the carcass to the shore. At great depths, it can become “whale drop” when it sinks to the ocean floor deeper than 3300 feet.
When this happens, it leads to something amazing. In the deep, dark depths of the ocean, there is grilled food. Sunlight does not reach the bottom of the ocean, so no plants grow there. But a whale’s fall provides the nutrients needed to sustain entire communities of organisms.
Unlike shallow waters, the cold ocean depths do not have bacteria and scavengers that quickly eat the carcass. Lobsters, crabs, isopods, sea cucumbers, shrimp, dormant sharks and some species of fish can feed on a single whale drop for decades. They, in turn, serve as food for other creatures.
Thus, even after death, the mighty whale plays an important role in the ocean ecosystem.
Next: what do butterflies eat?
How do whales die? 7 Common Causes of Whale Death: Frequently Asked Questions (Frequently Asked Questions)
Do whales die of old age?
There is some controversy about whether whales die of old age. If an elderly whale becomes ill or disabled, it will not be able to rise to the surface to breathe. Therefore, it drowns. Therefore, the cause of death can be called drowning, not old age.
Do whales drown when they die?
Oftentimes, drowning will eventually take the lives of whales suffering from other diseases. Whales can drown when washed ashore, entangled in fishing nets, or become too weak to reach the surface of the water to breathe.
Are the whales drowning?
Whales are not intentionally drowned. However, if they get caught in the net and fail to surface, they will drown. Stranded whales may face a similar difficulty. As the tides rise, water can cover the whale’s blowhole and enter it, causing it to drown before the water is deep enough to swim away.
What Causes Whales to Die?
Human activities, including hunting, pollution and injury from massive ships, can kill whales. Other causes of death may include old age, hunger, infection, childbirth complications, or going ashore.