You may recall the story we recently covered of a shark found several miles from the nearest body of water in the middle of the woods near the East Coast, but this story has an even larger sea creature found dead in a grassy field. Currently experts are wrestling with explanations as to what could have happened – particularly since the whale itself is not a species ordinarily seen in the area – even in the water.
At the moment the explanation is that the whale was caught dangerously close to the land as the equinal tide rose and then found itself stranded as the water began receding once again. The creature, which was found later simply lying in the field, is one of the most bizarre cases of an extremely out of place animal discovered yet – particularly since this particular breed of whale, the Sei whale, is not supposed to be anywhere near the area. And while it is strange, the official explanation does -in this particular case- seem to hold up to the extraordinarily bizarre circumstances of finding a whale not only on dry land but in the middle of a field some 2,400 feet away from the coast.
There have been several cases of beached whales in the area recently with explanations as scarce as ever as to why these creatures find themselves going onto dry land. The disturbing image is becoming increasingly common – so much so that conservationists are finding it difficult to keep up with the problems. Of course at the head of it all is the question why. Why are whales and other sea mammals finding themselves on dry land? Could this somehow be related to the numerous recent ecological disasters that have confronted the world’s oceans including the BP oil spill and the release of radioactive materials into the ocean after the Fukushima disaster? Could the increased seismic activity of recent months and years be somehow influencing their ability to navigate in unfamiliar waters?
While lost whales are not a new topic, the one discovered in East Yorkshire was not the most off-course one ever seen. In fact, in 1999 that record was broken by a humpback whale who traveled all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean – a distance of more than 6,125 miles in order to find a mate. Though it has only been a subject of study for a few years, the migrations of marine life are proving to be drastically changing in recent years, as expected due to pollution, over-fishing, and other forms of environmental influence.
And while it may have been mysterious, experts are confident that this was likely not as unusual as it may look at first. Of course if it was completely unexplainable, it wouldn’t be the first time a large sea creature was found in a place that defied conventional explanation.