Crowds gathered to Newport Beach on Sydney’s northern coast in August 2012 to see a dead Humpback whale that had been washed into an ocean-side swimming pool. The thirty-foot long, twenty tonne juvenile whale will cause huge problems for the Sydney authorities not least because of the stench caused by the rotting blubber, but also because of the fact that the carcus is likely to attract packs of hungry sharks who’ll want to feed off it!
Read the story here – http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/baby-whale-washes-up-in-sydney-rockpool/story-e6frg6nf-1226440079835
The whale is likely to have died out at sea.
Action-thriller IMPACT POINT starts off with a similar story line as two dead blue whales are washed up on beaches in the UK and the Eastern Seaboard of the USA – see synopsis below.
MYSTERIOUS WHALE DEATHS…
When the World’s largest ever creature – a blue whale – dies in front of Robert Spire on his local Welsh beach, the UK’s Department of the Environment and local population are ill prepared. When a second whale washes up dead on Myrtle Beach on the opposite side of the Atlantic, the scientific community starts asking questions.
A QUEST FOR METEORITE FRAGMENTS…
Environmental lawyer Robert Spire; newly recruited to the UK’s Global Environmental Command Unit – GLENCOM, flies over to South Carolina to investigate. Whilst there, he teams up with marine biologist Dr Sally Rivea, also assigned to the case. Meanwhile, ex marine Travis Dexter is on the run in Nevada after he discovers the body of his employer – philanthropist Julian Smithies – murdered in his home. The only object missing; a recently discovered, rare and valuable meteorite.
A FUTURE GLOBAL CATACLYSM…
On the island of Exuma In the Bahamas, four sport divers make a startling discovery at the bottom of Mystery Cave blue hole. Sixty miles offshore in the Caribbean Sea, drilling on the Proteus oil rig turns to disaster as the drill penetrates something hard on the ocean floor. Dr Rivea, at a loss to explain the high levels of the mineral olivine discovered in the whale’s tissue samples, accompanies Spire to the Caribbean in search of answers, but what they discover doesn’t bear thinking about…
After seeing the Sydney whale story, I wondered how many large wales are washed up on the world’s shores and was surprised by the answer…
The Sydney whale is the most recent, but here’s a list, with links to the news articles-
Vancouver June 2012 – Juvenile Humpback whale beaches itself and dies at White Rock Beach –  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/06/12/bc-beached-whale-vancouver.html
Skegness, UK March 2012 – A 50 foot long Sperm Whale with a large gash in its side beaches itself – the fourth whale to do so in recent years – a sad sight for the locals who came to view –  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-17260850
Kent, UK March 2011 a 45 foot long Sperm whale beached itself on Pegwell Bay off the Kent coast – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-13614855
Yorkshire, UK September 2011, a 30 foot long Sei whale was found beached in a field close to the Humber Esturary – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8796084/Mystery-as-beached-whale-found-in-field-in-Yorkshire.html
California, USA 2007 a spate of blue whale deaths causes alarm amongst scientists – http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/blue-whale986.html#cr
There are many reasons why such magnificent creatures end up dead on the world’s beaches. Disease is an obvious one, predator attack another, or more commonly being hit by a large ship, causing the whale massive blunt trauma is quite often found to be the case. Military activity affecting the whales sonar capability is another factor. It has also been said that changes in the Earth’s magnetic fields or underwater earthquakes, or the advent of some other natural disaster causes the whales to flee or become confused….Whatever the cause, the sight of such a magnificent and majestic creature lying dead on a beach near you would be very sad sight indeed.
While a cause was found for most of the above whale deaths, the deaths of two blue whales on both sides of the Atlantic only days apart is not so clear. As marine biologist Dr Sally Rivea and Robert Spire struggle to search for the answers, why not try and solve the puzzle yourself? Download your copy of Kindle action-adventure thriller IMPACT POINT by clicking on the link to the book on this website today - you won’t regret it…
