What whales are telling us

Photo: Bdmlr/PA

Philip Hoare, writing for The Guardian, reports on a slew of whale deaths that have mystified scientists around British shores. Here is an excerpt:

"Cetaceans spend all their lives in an environment which is alien to us. Ironically, however, whale strandings can be remarkably helpful. These deaths provide us with invaluable clues to the living animals about which we know so little. A fin whale stranded in Denmark last year, for instance, was thought to be about 15-20 years old, a juvenile. The results of its necropsy, released this summer show that it was blind, arthritic, and 140 years old – thereby doubling, at a stroke, the known longevity of these animals."

To read the entire story, click here.