“These can be dogs, cats, cows, horses, fishes, or even marine mammals, such as cetaceans,” explains Fernández, who is also a professor at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

More than ten beaked whales had stranded on the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, coinciding with a naval exercise conducted by NATO and Spanish ships in the area.

Fernández explains that because beaked whales dive at great depths, they accumulate a high concentration of nitrogen in their tissues, which is also a risk factor for gas embolisms.

Between February and August 2022, during the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Turkish Marine Research Foundation TUDAV reported a huge increase in dolphin strandings.

It’s actually more than twice [the amount for] a normal year, and in some areas, more than three times,” explains Dr Ayaka Amaha Ozturk, a lecturer at the Faculty of Aquatic Science at Istanbul University.

Originally, scientists believed noise pollution was affecting mostly cetaceans, but recent studies show that at least 150 marine species could be suffering the consequences.

Saved 85% of original text.