Wildlife loss

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We are losing wildlife at an alarming rate. A recent survey showed the hedgehog population to be in freefall and many other forms of wildlife are also suffering decline. After many years of whale protection, Japan has announced that it is to resume commercial whaling but even without this, our whales are sufferring more today than you might imagine. Yesterday a 27ft female Humpback whale washed up on the beach at Thurso.  Its flippers were tied tightly to its flanks by what appears to be lobster pot rope. The line had cut deeply into the flippers making it impossible for the animal to swim and thus it seems to have drowned. This is the third such incident around the scottish coast this month. Unfortunately, the incidents seem to be on the increase, too. Environmentalists are now saying that noise from wind farm survey sonar and the windfarms themselves are creating confusing noise barrages in the water and may be causing whales to swim closer to the shore than they should. This is bringing them into contact with creelers' lines and causing fatal entanglements.  Here are a few pictures I took yesterday. The Scottish Cetacean specialist veterinary team have arrived to conduct a post mortem on the animal and are taking preliminary measurements before taking samples from the whale. Click the link and then click the images for full size pictures.

 

Humpback whale Caithness 30-5-2019