what is it called when a whale is on beach
A mass stranding of Pilot Whales on the shore of Cape Cod, 1902. Cetacean stranding is a phenomenon in which cetaceans strand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole. Several explanations of the stranding have been proposed.