Mystery of why 22 long-finned whales washed up to their deaths on Spanish beach

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Whales washed up and died at Manon Beach in Spain
Authorities and conservationists battled to save long-finned pilot whales
The whales are sociable creatures and often interact with dolphins

By
Hayley O’keeffe

PUBLISHED:

19:07 GMT, 7 October 2013

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UPDATED:

19:07 GMT, 7 October 2013

A natural mystery is unfolding in Spain after 22 long-finned pilot whales came ashore at Manon Beach.

The picture shows six of the 22 long-finned pilot whale that beached on the shore, north of La Coruna, Galicia, Spain today (Monday).

Sadly 11 of the whales died on arrival to the beach and the others died later despite the efforts of the Spanish Civil Protection, environmentalists and Galicia Coordination mammalian studies.

22 long-finned pilot whales have died after coming ashore on the Manon beach, north of La Coruna, Galicia today

22 long-finned pilot whales have died after coming ashore on the Manon beach, north of La Coruna, Galicia today.
Conservationists and authorities battled to save the animals, and now a mystery surrounds why they beached in the first place

Long-finned pilot whales or globicephala melas are very sociable and family-orientated animals and are even known to socialise with bottle nosed-dolphins.

Authorities have not yet revealed why they think the whales beached on such a huge scale today.

But a theory among some biologists is that if a dominant or leader whale is sick and beaches, other whales in the group will follow because of the way their social structure works, and also run aground.

La Coruna is a destination popular with tourists and locals alike, and is famed for its natural wildlife, with firms offering whale-watching tours to those visiting the area.

A pilot whale captured off the coast of Hawaii. 22 long-finned pilot whales washed up on Manon Beach in Spain and died today