Fear for mass stranding of whales with head injuries on South Uist. Earthquake on the way??

News that up to 100 pilot whales many with head injuries have been spotted leading to fears that they may be trying to beach themselves. Could this be a precursor to an earthquake ? Many of the whales have head injuries something that may have happened if they tried to beach themselves up against the rocky coast line.
www.bbc.co.uk...

Marine animal experts are trying to prevent a mass stranding by up to 100 pilot whales in South Uist in the Western Isles.

The whales were spotted in Loch Carnan on Thursday afternoon and about 20 were said to have had cuts to their heads.

It is thought the injuries may have been caused by attempts to strand themselves on the rocky foreshore of the sea loch.

Rescuers said inflatable pontoons for refloating whales were on the way.

The pod has been moving back and forth from the shore and rescuers said the animals were "very vocal", which may be a sign of distress.

Members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) fear the whales could die in a massive beaching - which could be Scotland's largest stranding.

If they are trying to beach themselves, would that suggest they are under some form of stress ? Reminds me of when you see people in movies 'AHHH ITS IN MY HEADDDDD' *bangs head on wall repeatedly.

Maybe they are being affected by some kind of radio waves or sonar or something, there was a thread the other day that showed how a squid had died (i think) from radio waves/sonar (keeping it vague as i cant remember exactly what kind) They could be trying to kill them selves as they cant take it anymore ?

Just spitballin'

Hmm you never know. Toads can apparently know whether an earthquake will strike some 5-6 days before it happens news.bbc.co.uk...

I guess we'll have to wait and see in a weeks time whether your hypotheses is right!

2 Feb 2011 : Earthquakes, like the one that struck in Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday, rank among the most devastating natural disasters, capable of leveling cities and causing extensive loss of life -- largely because they are so unpredictable. On Sunday, however, less than 48 hours before the quake, 107 pilot whales beached themselves and died along the nation's shores, a phenomenon that biologists have yet to fully understand. The proximity of the two events, in both time and location, have sent the Web in a frenzy over whether they are related -- and whether strandings can provide precious foresight before disaster strikes.

Whale Strandings can Predict Earthquakes.

ahhh so Wales can beach anywhere in the world? And that means that an earthquake can happen miles from the stranding?

reply to post by Vanishr


gday Vanishr, my thoughts (almost) exactly...

for years there have been stories of dolphin/whale beachings
that MAY have coincided with "weapons" testing...
( submarines, and other navy/military weapons)...

both NZ and Tasmania have been sights that may be worth more investigation...

i feel sorry for all the ocean life,
having to put up with "who-knows-what" technology being used/tested underwater..

eg: pressure waves etc...

it must be "noisy" down there sometimes...

seeya...


EDIT: and YES, there is also lots of theories about animals sensing things we cant,
especially whales/dolphins beaching before earthquakes

Oh bugger, it was the Pilot Whales that stranded on Japan that led me to say on the Tuesday before it happened that Japan would be next....and I was right. I have started a thread here about my feelings about a UK EQ....I so hope I am wrong, but my gut tells me something else.

Stay safe up there in Uist

rainbows
jane

Originally posted by sandesh

2 Feb 2011 : Earthquakes, like the one that struck in Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday, rank among the most devastating natural disasters, capable of leveling cities and causing extensive loss of life -- largely because they are so unpredictable. On Sunday, however, less than 48 hours before the quake, 107 pilot whales beached themselves and died along the nation's shores, a phenomenon that biologists have yet to fully understand. The proximity of the two events, in both time and location, have sent the Web in a frenzy over whether they are related -- and whether strandings can provide precious foresight before disaster strikes.

Whale Strandings can Predict Earthquakes.

edit on 20-5-2011 by sandesh because: (no reason given)

The larger group is found in a circumpolar band in the Southern Ocean running from approximately 20° S to 65° S. It may be sighted off the coasts of Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[11] There are estimated to be in excess of 200,000 individuals in this group. The second population is much smaller and inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean, in a band that runs from South Carolina in the United States across to the Azores and Morocco at its southern edge and from Newfoundland to Greenland, Iceland and northern Norway at its northern. It is also present in the western half of the Mediterranean Sea

If you're right we could expect an earthquake within the week somewhere along countries around the Mediterranean sea or even Chile, Argentina. But my guess is somewhere around the Mediterranean sea since that is closer to the British Isles.
Or for all you know, it could be an underwater earthquake as well..

reply to post by angelchemuel


The UK will hardly ever have a devastating earthquake simply because it is not located near a fault line. An earthquake somewhere in Europe or around the countries in the Mediterranean, is highly probably. Its anyones guess really - Spain, Italy, Greece...

Not a million miles away from the penninsular in Western Scotland where HMS Astute ran aground, could be feasible Submarine activities are taking place there. However on the flip-side this area is where the Highland Fault crosses also, this has yet to rupture into a moderate Earthquake given its still in a transitionary phase and only +3 shocks have happened on the Western edge thus far.

Unusual Animal Behavior
www.drgeorgepc.com...
www.asianews.it...

The Use of Animals in Earthquake Prediction

Research being carried out in China has indicated that recognition of unusual animal behavior in a systematic way can lead and be used, in conjunction with other methods, as a means of predicting large and potentially destructive earthquakes. The following are examples of observed unusual animal behavior before major earthquakes occurred.

Unusual Animal Behavior - In 1920, the largest earthquake to hit China with a magnitude of 8.5 occurred in Haiyuan County, Ninghxia Province. According to reports of eyewitnesses, prior to this earthquake, wolves were seen running around in packs, dogs were barking unusually, and sparrows were flying around wildly. It is reported that prior to the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in 1966 in Hsingtai County, Hopei Province, in Northern China, all the dogs at a village near the epicenter had deserted their kennels and thus survived the disaster.


Prior to the earthquake of July 18, 1969, (magnitude 7.4) in the Pohai Sea, unusual behavior was observed in seagulls, sharks, and five different species of fish. Based on observations of unusual behavior of giant pandas, deer, yaks, loaches, tigers and other animals, a warning was issued at the Tientsin People's Park Zoo, two hours before the earthquake struck.


The Chinese began to study systematically the unusual animal behavior, and the Haicheng earthquake of February 1975 was predicted successfully as early as in mid-December of 1974. The most unusual circumstance of animal behavior was that of snakes that came out of hibernation and froze on the surface of the earth. Also a group of rats appeared. These events were succeeded by a swarm of earthquakes at the end of December 1974. During the following month, in January 1975, thousands of reports of unusual animal behavior were received from the general area. Local people saw hibernating snakes coming out from their holes and into the snow. In the first three days in February the activity intensified even more and unusual behavior of the larger animals such as cows, horses, dogs and pigs was reported. On February 4, 1975, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck the Haicheng County, Liaoning Province.


More instances of unusual animal behavior were reported. A stock breeder in northern China, feeding his animals before dawn on July 28, 1976, in the area of the Kaokechuang People's Commune, approximately 40 kilometers away from the city of Tangshan, reported that his horses and mules instead of eating were jumping and kicking until they finally broke loose and ran outside. A few seconds later, a dazzling white flash illuminated the sky. Tremendous rumbling noises were heard as a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Tangshan area.


Other reports of unusual animal behavior prior to the occurrence of earthquakes have been reported in the literature and in books. Such unusual animal behavior included goats refusing to go into pens; cats and dogs picking up their offspring and carrying them outdoors; pigs squealing strangely; chickens dashing out of the coops in the middle of the night; fish dashing about aimlessly; and birds leaving their nests. It has also been reported that zoo animals refused to go back into their shelters at night; snakes, lizards and other small mammals evacuated their underground nests; insects congregated in huge swarms near the seashores; cattle sought higher ground; domestic animals became agitated; and wild birds left their usual habitats.

reply to post by CasiusIgnoranze


With all due respect, please go study the geology of Scotland at least.

"Devonian – Early Carboniferous (415 to 345 million years ago)
By early Devonian times, Scotland was situated just to the south of the equator. The climate was hot, with wet and dry seasons. The Caledonian Mountains had been eroded and as this burden was reduced, so the land rose to expose the rocks we see today which were originally several kilometres deep in the earth. The landscape consisted of eroded mountains to the north and alluvial fans along the Highland Border. Farther south was an alluvial plain which stretched from Scandinavia to Wales where it met the sea. The rivers were large and braided with channels as wide and deep as the Mississippi. The finer silty floodplain deposits were usually eroded and carried away so that the Devonian rocks are mostly sandstone and conglomerate. Plants were only just beginning to colonise the land and were probably found in isolated damp places on the floodplains and in marshes. Large armoured fish, with life cycles similar to those of salmon, lived in the rivers and lakes. Evaporation of groundwater in drier times caused the chalky compound calcium carbonate to harden in the soils as nodules and hard ground known as calcrete.

Volcanic processes were also at work. Andesitic and basaltic lava flows were erupted from large volcanoes similar to those in the Andes today. Volcanic mudflow conglomerates and some airfall ash deposits are interbedded with the lava. These rocks now form the Ochil Hills.

Following earth movements during Middle Devonian times, when the older rocks were folded, uplifted as mountains and eroded, the landscape was low-lying near sea level, with only a few low hills in the Highlands. In the late Devonian, the area was part of a central Scottish alluvial plain in which braided rivers mainly drained eastwards to the sea. Initially, there was little vegetation, and windblown sand dunes formed when the rivers periodically dried up. As groundwaters evaporated in the dry seasons calcium carbonate again hardened the soils as calcrete.

For a while in early Carboniferous times, muddy deposits were laid down on a coastal floodplain, with storms bringing seawater well inland to mix with the groundwater. In the dry seasons, surface and groundwater evaporated, drawing up and depositing gypsum, anhydryite and sale (which later dissolved) in the sun-cracked muds, and also transforming beds of limestone to dolomite (cementstone) in lakes or lagoons.

Rivers later returned to the plains, but these flowed into the area from higher ground to the north depositing mainly sandstones. Vegetation was probably patchy with only limited stands of trees.

Volcanoes were also active at this time. The 340 million years old basaltic lava flows and volcanic ashes of the Campsie Fells and the Kilpatrick and Gargunnock hills were erupted from fissures and small volcanic cones which were often grouped along fault lines. The individual flows form bold scarp or ‘trap’ features on the northern face of the Gargunnock Hills and southern face of the Kilpatricks. The eroded roots of the volcanoes, now hard plugs of basalt, form characteristic isolated hills like Dumgoyne and Dumbarton Rock. The volcanic activity on Iceland, where new ocean floor is currently being generated causing the European and North American plates to drift farther apart, shows how this area might have been in Carboniferous volcanic times. However volcanic activity in Scotland ended before actual rifts were created."

from this link www.snh.org.uk...

Also it has what is termed a dormant SUPER volcano whose caldera is now known as Loch Ness

New research proves existence of super volcano beneath Loch Ness
Professor Tom Plume PhD (51) of the EU Volcanic Research Committee has warned that the famous fault-line, known as the Great Glen, may be about to rip apart as a result of a Super Volcano, which has lain dormant for millions of years.

"Loch Ness lies on the Great Glen fault-line and its incredible depth (over 2km) has severely hampered our research project", said Professor Plume. Unlike some other projects, we need to be able to see right down through the earth's crust, but until recently, we have been restricted to dry land. Fortunately new developments with satellite laser topography sonar side-scanning techniques have enabled us to penetrate through the thick sludge that lies up to 400m thick at the loch's bottom. What we found shocked us: nematode worms and zooplankton the size of a human fist that seem to be feeding on thermal vents."

Ironically it was the discovery of the sulphur-feeding creatures that prompted Professor Plume to hire a special robot submarine capable of dropping through a thermal vent and searching beyond. "We found a very active thermal rupture in the sub-base of the loch", said Professor Plume, "further sonar probing showed large lava-filled caverns and pressure readings suggest that a major volcanic event may be about to occur. Tremors have been felt recently in parts of the Highlands of Scotland and it is understood that small seismic shocks often precipitate a major or catastrophic eartchquake or volcanic eruption."

For now, however, this fascinating Loch Ness research project continues to probe its bottom. Professor Plume cautiously suggests that Nessie may have managed to survive the ice age by swimming around the warm volcanic vents and feeding on the monster sized sulphur feeding worms and plankton. The volcano may be a relic from the time this area was part of the super-sized continent Pangea.

from this link
www.lochness.co.uk...

Is that OK to be getting on with?

rainbows
Jane

I am really sorry to have gone oof on one with my above thread, I do not want to upset anyone, but I respect peoples opinions when they can be backed up with some sort of evidence, as I have tried to do above in response to what was said. If what I have posted has worried, upset, or got annyone panicking I am truly sorry, but at least I can and try to back anything I post here with evidence.

"If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all", Thumper (Bambi)
in this case, "if you can't back up what you are posting, then don't post anything at all".....I thought it was one of the rules around here.

Rainbows
jane

reply to post by sandesh

hale Strandings can Predict Earthquakes.

I'm sorry but no, they can't.

reply to post by Chadwickus


They speak to each other through frequency... how do you know tremors in the earth does not somehow effect that frequency...

OP: He does this to my post as well

Since 1984 there have been 21 mass whale strandings on the southwest coast of Australia and only 6 major earthquakes (mag 5.0+) have been recorded since 1980, with the closest being west of Fremantle 6 years prior to a whale stranding...

So please explain how one can say "whale strandings = earthquakes" when this big fat elephant is sitting in the room?

Hard data and facts don't lie.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by CasiusIgnoranze
reply to post by angelchemuel

 

The UK will hardly ever have a devastating earthquake simply because it is not located near a fault line. An earthquake somewhere in Europe or around the countries in the Mediterranean, is highly probably. Its anyones guess really - Spain, Italy, Greece...

It was mentioned above but here's another source to counter your claim.

Beneath Britain the Earth's crust is crisscrossed with ancient cracks, or fault lines, which are constantly under stress. Occasionally, that stress becomes so high that the rock either side of a fault line suddenly slips, releasing shock waves felt across the country as an earthquake. Tremors are not uncommon in Britain. Each year, the British Geological Survey (BGS) records between 200 to 300 separate events. Earthquakes of magnitude five or more ... happen every eight years or so.

The most famous fault line, the Great Glen fault, runs along the length of the Great Glen from south-west to north-east Scotland, cutting through Loch Ness. Another is the Church Stretton fault line in Shropshire.

The largest earthquake to strike Britain occurred in 1931 in the North Sea. It ... produced a small tsunami. Its impact was felt throughout the UK and in northern Europe.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by sandesh

 

"[w]hale Strandings can Predict Earthquakes."


I'm sorry but no, they can't.

Perhaps sandesh should've said "...may be able to predict...."
But as you pointed out, "Since 1984 there have been 21 mass whale strandings on the southwest coast of Australia and only 6 major earthquakes (mag 5.0+) have been recorded since 1980...." ~25% accuracy or relavance is not statistical proof that cause=effect. It's a statistical "anomaly" but it is not incontrovertible proof. It may be worthy of further study though.

reply to post by abecedarian


Thank you. Also the Great Glenn is a DORMANT super volcano which means it is a VEI 7 or 8 possibly, even a 2 or 3 is bad enough! There are 5 out of the 17 supers listed on EDIS active since the beginning of this year. Two of them 'triggered off' this month alone!

rainbows
Jane

reply to post by abecedarian


Can one get a break down of what kind of whales on each of the strandings? It's Pilots that seem to be most accurate. Sorry if this sounds heartless, it is not, it is for this reason I have such feelings for Pilot whales in particular.
thank you
rainbows
jane