“Balene beached on the coasts of Japan shortly before the Tsunami alert”: is there really a connection with the earthquake?

A roar from the heart of the Pacific, then the alert that runs as fast as the wave. A magnitude earthquake 8.8recorded off the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka, has unleashed panic and a tsunami alarm that has reached Japan, Hawaii and the American coasts. But while millions of people evacuated the coastal areas, another tragedy was consumed on Japanese beaches: the images of large cetaceans, cunning and over of life, have gone around the world.

The facts are dramatic. A few hours after the earthquake, on the Tateyama coast, in the prefecture of Chiba, they were found At least four large beached cetaceans. The filming, broadcast live from the Japanese national TV, showed the real estate bodies on the shoreline, while the first anomalous waves reached the island of Hokkaido. Although the sources generically speak of “whales”, some more specific reports identify animals such as sperm whale.

The first hypothesis, the most intuitive, mechanically binds the scolding to the tsunami. As explained by some Japanese researchers, the phenomenon is characterized by “rapid and drastic changes in water levels and in the currents near the coast”. The wave, approaching the shore, before violently successes the water towards the Largo, creating sudden shallows that can trap large animals, and then return the water with a devastating force that pushes them fatally on the beach.

However, this explanation could only be a part of the story. The scientific community, in fact, explores a second way, deeper and invisible. Marine mammals like whales and dolphins they orient themselves, hunt and communicate through eco -terminationa sophisticated organic sonar. An underwater earthquake of this reach is not only a movement of the earth’s crust, but also a very powerful explosion of acoustic pressure waves. This sound energy can literally take care and confuse the cetaceans, making them unable to “see” the surrounding environment and leading them to lose the course. Not only that: some species They also exploit the earth’s magnetic field For their long migrations. An earthquake, altering the ocean seabed, could have also disturbed this natural “compass”, contributing to fatal disorientation.

However, there is also a third position, that of scientific caution. Some experts, in fact, underline how in the literature there is still no certain and universally accepted correlation between seismic events and mass beaches. The great cetaceans like the sperm whales are pelagic animals, accustomed to living in very deep waterswhere the effects of a surface wave, especially if of height initially contained as the 30 centimeters recorded in Hokkaido, could be minimal. It could therefore be one, even if tragic, coincidence, since, unfortunately, the beaches take place for multiple causes, often not linked to catastrophic events.

While in Japan the authorities were focused on the evacuation of people, the fate of the animals remained suspended. Without the floating guaranteed by the water, the weight of a whale can crush its internal organs, drastically reducing the possibilities of survival. The impact of a similar event, moreover, is not limited to what is visible from the coast. The anomalous wave crossed the entire Pacific, reaching distant and fragile ecosystems like the great coral reef. A pressure wave of this flow rate upsets, currents and temperatures, triggering a chain of damage, often invisible, which threaten marine life on a global scale.