Why do whales commit suicide?

Answer 1

SUMMARY: Diving pods of offshore toothed whales and dolphins (odontoceti) feed on squid above mid-oceanic ridges where they are often exposed to oscillations in ambient water pressure when shallow earthquakes suddenly erupt in the seafloor below them. On rare occasion these changes in pressure are too excessive and/or too rapid to be counterbalanced by the whales' pressure regulating anatomy resulting in barotrauma in the sinuses, air sacs, and middle-ear air cavities of each animal's head. Since intact cranium air spaces play a major role in the function of echo-navigation and echo-location, a pressure related injury in this biosonar system renders the victims unable to use acoustic navigation to determine their position and find food. Nor are they able to dive without suffering intense pain.

The injured pod huddles together for protection against sharks and swims slowly away from the epicenter, but not in a random direction. Since water is 800 times more dense than air, the increased resistance (drag) to swimming against or perpendicular to the surface flow turns the whales headfirst and points them downstream in the path of least drag.

Barotraumatized pods can recover after an unknown period of rest on the surface. Those that do not are eventually: (a) guided to a stranding beach by the surface current, (b) harvested by sharks or killer whales, or (c) die and sink to the bottom.

After about a week on the bottom in water less than 100 meters deep, decomposing gases will form and re-float the carcasses that will then be carried by the surface currents to a beach.

Non-navigating whales, carcasses, flotsam, and sea weeds are all deposited on beaches because the current that carried each grain of sand to build the beach in the first place, is the same energy determining the path of everything floating or swimming blindly on the surface.

Where currents wash shoreward, there are beaches, flotsam, and beached whales; where current does not wash toward the shore, there are no beaches, no flotsam, and no beached whales.

Answer 2

It is still in debate, but the best argument is this: Whales have a ability to read the earth's magnetic feild and use that as a guide. So when the magnetic signals bounce onto a beach, the whales follow it, not knowing they are basically killing themselves.

Answer 3

The best theory proposes that intense low frequency hydroacoustic

compressions and rarefactions (seaquakes) generated by certain undersea earthquakes can induce barotraumatic injuries in the sinuses, air sacs, and middle-ear air cavities of submerged whales and dolphins. Healthy cranial air spaces are essential for both diving and the proper functioning of the odontocete biosonar system. Thus, a pod of whales or dolphins injured by a seaquake will find it impossible to dive and feed themselves and to echonavigate the open ocean. Such disoriented pods will swim downstream in the path of least drag/resistances. Beaches are built by the same current controlling the swim path of the lost whales, which explains why lost whales and dolphins usually strand in sandy areas.

Answer 4

Whales don't commit suicide. If you are on about when they are beached or washed onto shore then that is because they got too close to the shore and a wave pushed them onto shore and beached them.

Answer 5

They go close to shore for food and to see the people

Answer 6

Most of the times, whales beach because of disease or piercings from harpoons ( from whalers) and because they have lost their mothers (when they are too young) and become beached.

Answer 7

Because its suicidal maybe.