Cetacean stranding

Cetacean stranding, commonly known as beaching, is a phenomenon in which whales and dolphins strand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole.^[1] Cetacean stranding has occurred since before recorded history.^[2]

Several explanations for why cetaceans strand themselves have been proposed, including changes in water temperatures,^[3] peculiarities of whales' echolocation in certain surroundings,^[4] and geomagnetic disturbances,^[5] but none have so far been universally accepted as a definitive reason for the behavior. However, a link between the mass beaching of beaked whales and use of mid-frequency active sonar has been found.^[6]

Whales that die due to stranding can subsequently decay and bloat to the point where they can explode, causing gas and their internal organs to fly out.