Five beached sperm whales die on Texel

Five sperm whales died on a Texel beach on Wednesday morning after washing ashore on Tuesday, NRC reports. The sperm whales were discovered on Tuesday afternoon. Employees of the Rijkswaterstaat, rescue society KNRM and research institute Ecomare rushed to try and save the whales. The rescuers hoped that high water at 8:00 p.m. would help the animals swim back into the sea on their own, but that did not happen. After that strong winds and darkness hindered further rescue attempts. The rescue was called off around midnight. An emergency ordinance was decreed for the stretch of beach on Tuesday and it is still in place, which means that the beach is closed. According to the municipality, gas forming in the whales could pose a health risk. The University of Utrecht will examine the sperm whales to determine the cause of death. After that their skeletons will likely be kept by Naturalis.