On February 9-13, 2023, a total of 12 beaked whales were stranded, seven in the southern and five in the northern part of Cyprus. Most were dead when they were found, but some were alive, however, despite all efforts, none of the stranded whales survived. According to the preliminary results of the gross necropsy made on five whales in the north, it is assumed that they had died due to gas embolism caused by acoustic trauma. According to NAVTEX data, there were planned navy exercises with firing across large areas in the eastern, southern, and western parts of the island on the days when whales were stranded.
The Cuvier’s beaked whale is the most widely distributed of all beaked whales, inhabiting waters deeper than 300 m (1,000 ft), and over the years, strandings of the species have occurred where sonar has been in use. In March 2000, in the Bahamas, several US Navy Warships were using loud sonar which caused 14 beaked whales including nine Cuvier’s beaked whales to strand along the shoreline and some years later following operations by the Spanish Navy in the Canary Islands.
