Whale stranding increase may be due to military sonar exercises, say experts

It is thought sonar may scare animals into surfacing too quickly, causing narcosis

An unusual series of strandings and sightings of 29 rare beaked whales has taken place around the shores of northern Europe. Experts have suggested the strandings may be linked to a military sonar exercise.

The events, whose rarity indicates that they might be linked by a single cause, began two weeks ago with the sighting of two northern bottlenose whales in the North Sea. They are the same species of beaked whale as the Thames whale of 2006.