Gasps for breath led Russian fishermen to 5 Beluga whales stranded on the beach. Rescue video inspires hope

Sonar noise is so disturbing that deep-water creatures try to escape it and end up beaching themselves.

PUBLISHED 19 HOURS AGO

(L) A Beluga whale poking its head out of the water; (R) Team rescuing a beached whale. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Kevin Schafer; (R) Gary Webber)

While countless wildlife rescue stories often make headlines, a rather unusual encounter recently took place. A group of local fishermen in Russia saved five stranded beluga whales. As reported by Newsweek, these belugas, four adults and one calf, were trapped on a beach near Tigil River in Russia's Far East, Kamchatka Peninsula, from where these mammals were saved by the fishermen, who continuously kept throwing seawater on them and even fed them fish while waiting for the tide to come back in.

A group of white beluga whales. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Andrey Nekrasov)

Beluga whales are known as small, white whales found in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, especially around Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Greenland. They are known for their distinctive white color and bulbous forehead and are social, vocal mammals. They inhabit coastal areas and estuaries and can navigate ice-covered waters using echolocation — a method where one gauges distance by sound waves bouncing off the object/surface one is looking for. On average, these adult beluga whales can weigh between 1,100 to 3,300 pounds, while calves typically weigh about 110 to 130 pounds. This realization is what prevented the fishermen from discarding their initial plan of lifting and pushing the whales back into the water.

A group of beluga whales swimming in the ocean. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by bbevren)

To make sure they don't wither and die due to dehydration, the group of men started pouring seawater on the bodies of these whales. According to a BBC report, when whales become stranded on land, their chances of survival are slim. One major problem is dehydration, with their bodies quietly collapsing in the sudden dry environment. Whales have a thick layer of blubber that keeps them warm in cold ocean water, but without that water to cool them down, they start to overheat. As they breathe, they also lose a lot of water through evaporation from their lungs, making their dehydration level worse.

A white beluga whale in water. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Yiming Chen)

Another aspect that requires our attention is how these whales get stranded on the shores in the first place. While the main reason behind these five beluga whales being trapped on the beach is not clear, in general, cetacean stranding, or beaching of a single animal, can occur due to sickness, injury, old age, rough weather, navigation errors, or chasing prey too close to shore. According to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, around 2,000 strandings occur each year worldwide, and most sadly end in death. Fortunately, they’re rare and not a major threat to the species overall.

Some scientists also believe that the sonar signals that are often used underwater to find submarines also play a role in whales and dolphins getting stranded. The low-frequency sonar signals can cause hemorrhaging in certain species, while in other cases, the noise is so disturbing that the animals try to escape it and thus end up beaching themselves. Fortunately, the five stranded beluga whales in this incident had a happy ending. After several hours of care from fishermen and the tide returning, the mammals were able to safely return to the Sea of Okhotsk.