derived from land animals, there is a 

 subconscious behavioral pattern to 

 return to the land and lie down to rest. 



Another theory deals with continen- 

 tal drift. Scientists postulate that ceta- 

 ceans have in their subconscious some 

 memories of past migration routes. 

 When put under any kind of stress, 

 those memories surface, and the 

 marine mammals try to follow a path 

 that would have been open 10 million 

 years ago. But now it is blocked by a 

 continent. 



However, Mead thinks a more 

 plausible and simple explanation for 

 the strandings is not a single reason, 

 but a combination of reasons. Animals 

 are led out of their normal distribution 

 pattern and put under some kind of 

 stress. "I feel that a marine mammal is 

 not used to physical barriers," Mead 

 says. "They don't understand that the 

 ocean has sides and a bottom. They 

 just don't recognize the beach as a 

 barrier that will impede them." Mead 

 says more information is really needed 

 on what caused the animals to diverge 



Photo by Cassie Griffin 



David Lee and sperm whale 

 skeleton in the museum 



from their normal patterns in the first 

 place. 



Research has provided some insights 

 into strandings. Lee says individual 

 strandings usually involve sick, in- 

 jured, tired and weak specimens that 

 are brought in by the current. 

 "Sometimes a porpoise and her calf 

 will strand together," he says, 

 "because one is sick and the healthy 

 one is staying with the other." 



Mass strandings seem to be more 



complex and can involve from several 

 to several hundred animals. Such 

 strandings may result from a reaction 

 to fear, bad weather conditions, herd 

 diseases or physiological problems that 

 reduce the animals' effectiveness and 

 survival. Potter says there is a tight 

 social bond among members of species 

 that strand in masses, and that mass 

 strandings can be triggered by a 

 catastrophic event in which species 

 follow the leader of the herd. "Mass 

 strandings also involve primarily 

 offshore species," he says, "such as 

 pilot whales, killer whales, sperm 

 whales, rough-toothed dolphins and 

 many-toothed blackfish." 



Pilot whales were the victims of the 

 last big stranding in North Carolina. 

 In October 1973, 50 of the whales, 

 averaging 17 feet in length, stranded at 

 Cape Lookout. Cape Hatteras is 

 known as the "Graveyard of the 

 Atlantic" for whales as well as vessels, 

 according to Lee. Strong currents can 

 trap weakened or confused animals, 

 which end up on the Outer Banks. 



In a given year, Lee says, they 

 record 30 to 250 strandings. "The 

 reason the number varies," he says, "is 

 because strandings vary from year to 

 year and the reporting input varies. 

 Probably less than thirty percent of all 

 strandings get reported." 



So, what happens to the stranded 

 marine mammal? Depending upon the 

 species, staff from the Smithsonian, 

 the state museum or area contacts 

 with authorization will go down to the 

 beach and survey and record the 

 event. Autopsies may be performed 

 and the carcass stripped and parts 



preserved for future research. It's not a 

 job for the weak or those with weak 

 stomachs. "Once when we were salvag- 

 ing a thirty-foot, small humpback," 

 Lee recalls, "it took six of us, after we 

 cut off a fin, to lift it and put it in the 

 truck. That fin was big and slimy with 

 no handles." After data are collected, 

 carcasses are either buried or towed 

 out to sea for disposal. 



Al Swanson, a taxidermist from 

 Powell's Point, is one of the authorized 



area contacts Lee calls to check out 

 strandings on the Outer Banks. He 

 goes down to the beach, gathers the 

 basic data on the animal and calls in 

 the report to Lee, who may ask Swan- 

 son to freeze the carcass until he can 

 get down to see it. But, Swanson has 

 another role in the salvage program. 



"If it's a species the museum needs," 

 he says, "I will make a fiberglass 

 casting of it with the same techniques I 

 use to make reproductions of saltwater 

 sport fish." In the past two years, he 

 has made castings of a harbor porpoise, 

 a pilot whale, a bottlenosed dolphin 

 and male and female grampus, which 

 are hanging in the museum. 



Lee says it is important to have 

 specimens preserved in some manner. 

 "We like to make sure the specimen 

 ends up in an appropriate place, such 

 as teaching collection at a college or 

 university, an exhibit in a marine 

 resources center, the Smithsonian or 

 the museum here," he says. "It's im- 

 portant that the animal and its parts 

 get saved, so that later, when someone 

 wants to study them, they know where 

 they can find, say, fifteen specimens of 

 pygmy sperm whale females collected 

 in January. Even the most common 

 species, we know very little about 

 them, biologically — when they 

 reproduce, when they migrate, how 

 fast they grow, how long they live — 

 things like that. Even on the most 

 common species, the specimens are 

 valuable." 



Or, as Charley Potter explains, 

 "That's why we spend so much time 

 mucking around in these carcasses." 



— Cassie Griffin 



"We know very little about them biologically — when 

 they reproduce, when they migrate, how fast they 

 grow, how long they live. Even on the most common 

 species, the specimens are valuable/ 9 



— David Lee 



