Since the start of August, 70 deep water whales have washed up dead on Scottish and Irish beaches. Many of the animals were kuvias, beaked whales, deep divers, which are normally found far out in the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers have been trying to work out what caused their deaths. One theory is that military activity and sonar signals in the Atlantic may have played a part. Our Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon reports from the inner hebrides. The islands along Scotland's west coast have become a graveyard for kuvias, beaked whales in one month, more washed ashore here than in the previous ten years combined. And scientists are trying to work out why they died. It's not a natural occurrence. Is it concerning? It's very concerning. Very concerning. Very very concerning. It is possibly the highest ever mortality, as a recorded mortality for this particular waste species, ever, anywhere in the world. Kuvias beaked whales are creatures of the deep. They can dive to depths of almost ten thousand feet. Research has shown they are sensitive to sound. Offer a spate of strandings in the Canary Islands, the use of sonar close to land there was banned. Since then, they have seen no bodies. Those involved in the investigation here will be scanning ear bones taken from the remains to look for trauma caused by excessive underwater sound. They are also looking at samples to rule out infectious diseases or contaminants. These whales have already been dead for several weeks by the time their bodies reached land. But the fact they washed ashore in such a short period of time, pulls to the possibility that a single event caused their deaths hundreds of miles out into the Atlantic. So could underwater noise or sonar be the cause? When groups of beaked whales strand across tens of kilometers of coastline within a few hours. That's been associated with naval and isobrene warfare exercises. It appears that the sonar that they use to hunt for submarines triggers a panic reaction. They may disrupt their diving so they get decompression sickness. They then die at sea and may wash ashore. The British military have been asked to help in tracking down any source of noise in the ocean around the time of the animal's deaths. The problem that we have is that they can only report on what they have been doing. They are not responsible for that matter, even have the information about what has been going on by other agencies within NATO. The Royal Navy says it takes its responsibilities and safeguarding the environment very seriously. And when possible operators take avoidance action should animals be detected before or during sonar operations. There is increasing awareness of the effect plastic has on marine life. It is possible there may soon be proof that noise pollution in our waters can be deadly to law and accordion BBC News Tyree. Amazon says it is to increase the wages of its low interest.