Summary: | Modern whales stranded and partially buried in the swash and intertidal zones of sandy beaches. All specimens sit in a scour depression developed around them as a result of erosion of the sediment surface by intense wave action. A) Specimen of Phocoena phocoena stranded in the Middelkerke beach (Belgium) in 2017 (photograph by J. Haelters). B) Two pilot whales ( Globicephala melas ) of 12 stranded in the Falcarragh beach (Donegal, Ireland) in July 2014 (photograph by S. Barnes). C) Specimen of Balaenoptera acutorostrata stranded in Bredene beach (Belgium) in December 2020 (photograph by J. Haelters). D) Carcass of Ziphius cavirostris found partially buried in the Eraclea Minoa beach (Sicily, Italy) (photograph by G. Insacco). E) A gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ) stranded at Emma Wood State Beach (Ventura County, California, USA) in May 2020 (photograph by A. Bautista).
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