Five centuries of sperm whale strandings along the Flemish coast

• Main Author: De Smet, W.M.A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1997
• Subjects: Historical account; Marine pollution; Pollution; Stranding; ANE; North Sea; Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://www.vliz.be/nl/open-marien-archief?module=ref&refid=788

Groups of male sperm whales sometimes visit the North Sea and may come close to its southern boundary, the Flemish coast, where moribund or dead specimens may sometimes become stranded at low tide. Subfossil finds prove that this phenomenon has existed for thousands of years, although it is rare, and that several specimens may sometimes become stranded together (as has happened in 1403, 1577 and 1937 and, more recently, in 1994). The stranding on 18 November 1994 involving three sperm whales stranded near Koksijde and one towed to Nieuwpoort has aroused huge interest among the public and has raised several questions and problems as many people interpret this stranding as being the result of pollution or other factors related to present-day human society.