The agency late last month received successive reports that whales were stranded on beaches near Kaohsiung and Tainan. Rescued whales were taken to pools at National Cheng Kung University’s Marine Biology and Cetacean Research Center. To clarify the cause of the whales’ shared symptoms, the agency would perform autopsies on their heads, Ko said. The rescued pilot whale’s hearing was found to be so damaged that it is deaf, and shows no response to sounds of more than 120 decibels, the agency said, adding that this was the primary reason for its stranding. The agency on Friday held the first meeting on training marine mammal observers with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, state-run Taiwan Power Co and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

Source: Taipei Times May 11, 2019 15:56 UTC