Strandings rise in Scotland hitting common dolphins and baleen whales

A 30-year record of stranded marine mammals around Scotland shows that strandings have risen across all cetacean species, with particularly sharp increases among common dolphins and baleen whales. Researchers analyzed data from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme spanning 1992 to 2022, identifying a total of 5,147 strandings. While the rise is evident across species, the scale and timing of the increases for common dolphins and baleen whales point to pressing conservation concerns and the need for targeted actions to protect coastal ecosystems.

Harbour porpoises account for more than half of all strandings in the dataset, numbering 2,676, followed by pelagic dolphins at 1,217. Common dolphins total 494 strandings, baleen whales 479, and deep-diving species 281. The analysis shows that strandings of baleen whales and common dolphins were relatively low in the first two decades but climbed sharply after 2010, with the increase for these two groups described as exponential. The data also reveal a disproportionate rise among juveniles in both the common dolphin and baleen whale groups, suggesting that younger individuals may be particularly vulnerable to the pressures...