81 Whales stranded on African beach
Pastor Dale Morgan
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*81 Whales stranded on African beach*
From correspondents in Dakar, Senegal
May 22, 2008 08:01am
Article from: Agence France-Presse
RESCUE efforts could not save at least 30 long-finned pilot whales that
became stranded on a beach in the north of the Senegalese capital Dakar.
Environmental expert Haidar el Ali said the 81 whales that became lodged
on Yoff-Thongor beach represented the biggest mass stranding of whales
for 30 years in the west African nation.
Thirty-three whales did not survive and lay dead on the beach, but
rescuers aided by local fishermen managed to dislodge 48 others and send
them back to the ocean. Many of the stranded whales were thought to have
been pregnant.
Experts were at a loss to explain the stranding and some of the whale
carcasses were taken to a local veterinary school to try and find
answers, a marine official said.
Pilot whales are members of the dolphin family but are considered by
experts to behave more like whales.
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