Race against time to conduct whale pod post mortems on Lewis
The whales stranded on Lewis will be moved to a landfill in Stornoway for post mortem examinations
He is director of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme whose team will carry out the post mortem examinations. "Then it's simply a race against time, energy and weather. We will do the most that we possibly can to find out what's been going on here."Pilot whales are known for their strong social bonds, so often when one whale gets into difficulty and strands, the rest follow.
"But that's one of the things we want to try and investigate and rule out - to see whether or not some of the things that can affect these animals such as underwater noise, interaction with fishing gear, accumulation of toxins or disease may have played a part."On Sunday attempts were made to give the surviving whales first aid.
Dr Brownlow said whales can be left to decompose on beaches as they form part of the natural nutrient cycle - but it the decision to move them was "understandable" as Traigh Mhor is one of the more popular beaches on the island.
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