50+ Pilot Whales Dead in Decade’s Biggest Mass Stranding

Over fifty pilot whales died in Scotland after becoming stranded on a beach on the Isle of Lewis, according to a news release from the charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), which was given the news by the police and promptly rushed to the scene.
The event was reported to authorities around 6:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday morning, and subsequent attempts to refloat more than a dozen surviving whales failed.
Rescuers later decided to euthanize the remaining trapped whales for comfort reasons. In total, 55 whales were put to death with only one surviving.
The BDMLR stated that one female was discovered with a vaginal prolapse and that the entire pod was stranded after one whale faced delivery issues.
“Pilot whales are notorious for their strong social bonds, so when one whale gets into trouble and strands, the rest follow.”
The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) confirmed that it would begin examining the creatures’ bodies to determine the cause of the stranding.
“Over the next several days, we will be conducting sampling and necropsies on the pilot whales in order to gather as much data as possible to better understand the health of these animals and why they may have stranded,” SMASS said in an online statement.