A devastating mass beaching of electra dolphins in Japan has triggered fears that an earthquake could be imminent.
The Japan Times reports that beachgoers on the coast of Hokota, north of Tokyo, started to find dozens of the dolphins' corpses washed up last Friday.
Children look at stranded dolphins at the shore in Hokota, north of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)
Officials worked to save the stranded dolphins, but were able to save only three of the nearly 150 that washed ashore.
“Many people volunteered to rescue them but the dolphins became very, very weak. … Only three of them have been successfully returned to the sea, as far as we can confirm,” a Hokota city official said.
Six days before the catastrophic 2011 tsunami, there was a mass beaching of the same species in Japan, leading some to speculate that this latest beaching will be the precursor to an earthquake offshore.
Scientists, however, are not convinced of this explanation. In fact, they explain that it might be an issue with the animals' sonar.
Al Jazeera America reports that one explanation for the group beaching was that the dolphins became disoriented and lost their sense of direction.
http://www.weather.com/science/nature/news/japan-dolphin-beaching-earthquake-fears
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