Ecomare

Porpoises, dolphins and larger whales are difficult to observe in the open sea because they swim under water. Large whales are rarely ever observed in the North Sea. Only the minke whale, the smallest baleen whale (8 meters), is regularly seen in the northern North Sea. In recent years, since the millennium, humpback whales have also been spotted regularly off the Dutch coast. These animals seem capable of swimming in shallower waters, particularly when hunting large schools of fish. If a sperm whale or any other large whale species ends up in the shallow southern North Sea, then it is usually a case of a lost or sick animal. Their chances of survival are slight and they eventually wash ashore somewhere. Because the North Sea is warming due to climate change, the currents in the ocean are also changing. Therefore, it is quite possible that more whales as well as more species of whales will end up more often in the North Sea.

Live large whales that wash ashore are difficult to rescue. They are too large and too heavy and collapse under their own weight. There is only a chance of helping them after stranding if they can float during the following flood. Specialist can then try to lead them to deeper waters. Porpoises and dolphins are easier to rescue but even these animals are much more difficult to care for than seals. Nevertheless, the organization SOS Dolphin, located at the Dolphinarium in Hardewijk, tries to rehabilitate dolphins and porpoises as often as possible. Various centers along the coast, including Ecomare on Texel, have special equipment for first aid care, after which the animals are transported to Hardewijk. If they succeed in saving the animal, it is returned to the sea.

In 2010, a young female orca stranded in the Wadden Sea. She was seriously weakened and practically starved to death. She was captured and brought to the Dolphinarium. She was named Morgan. When Morgan recovered, it was decided not to return her to the sea. The chances of survival were considered very low, due to the fact that orcas live in family groups. Morgan was transported to a Sea World on Tenerife, where she joined the group of orcas already there.

Every once in awhile, very rare whales are spotted along the Dutch coast. Close to the shore in the North Sea, several bones have been found from the gray whale and the North Atlantic right whale. These bones are proof that these species of whales swam here probably up to the Middle Ages. Sometimes, a lost beluga from the far north is seen in the North Sea. One swam in the river Rijn in 1966. In 1980-1981 and 1984, one was seen at the mouth of the Schelde and Eems. Belugas are inhabitants of river mouths in the North Pole region. Even though it is extremely unusual to see them in our area, it isn't strange that they are found in or close to rivers. In 1912, a narwhal died in the Zuiderzee. This narwhal probably wandered from the far north. The blue whale, the pygmy sperm whale and the pair of false killer whales that once beached along the Dutch coast, had wandered in from the Atlantic Ocean.