Have you ever wondered why whales and other huge mammals die and what causes their deaths? And, have you ever questioned where their carcasses end up and if they became fossilized?
Well, I ponder these type things often and I read an ABC News report that gives some excellent insight from scientists who believe they’ve solved the mystery of an enormous ancient whale graveyard; and they also deemed the mammals died off from a poisonous algae.
In 2010 there were possibly 40 whales and various other sea creatures skeletons discovered in Chile; but there were questions as to why they ended up close to a coastal highway in the area.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Nicholas Pyenson, authorized a study pointing the blame on blooming toxic algae killing the giant mammals and causing them to float belly up onto the beach. It was determined that the whales were lying on their backs and this indicated they had not been beaching themselves, according to Pyenson. The mammals died quickly and they washed ashore before they could ever be scavenged by sharks and other fish.
Pyenson indicated that big hunks of meat was stranded on a tidal flat and there were “no” terrestrial predators such as bears, etc., nothing any larger than a dog, and they could not dismember these large carcasses and carry their bones away.
Bones were found in the area known as Cerro Bellena, or Whale Hill.
These killer algae bloomed recurrently in the area, killing whales, seals, marlins and other fish and they washed ashore over a period of 10,000 to 16,000 years; and this could have taken place for more than 5 million years ago.
I find this information to be informative and it answers some of the questions whizzing around in the minds of some people. Can you imagine the massive grave of carcasses of huge mammals that could not save themselves from the hazards of killer algae? Do you ever wonder as I do, how many mammals have met their unexpected death from this killer?
In my opinion this is sad and it would be brilliant if there was a way for a sensor to signal these killer algae’s before the mammal lost its life.
Barbara Kasey Smith is the writer of this article and it is based on an ABC News report.
Source:
ABC News.go.com