LONDON: At least 65 long-finned pilot whales have died after being stranded on an island off the north coast of Scotland, a rescue charity said on Thursday, in one of the largest mass strandings in Britain in recent times.
The British Divers Marine Life Rescue said it had been alerted to the stranding earlier in the day and sent medics to a beach on Sanday, a Scottish island in the Orkney archipelago.
“On arrival, the medics found there to be about 77 animals high up the beach, having evidently been stranded for several hours already. Sadly, only 12 of them (were) still alive at this point,” the charity said in a statement.
Whales can get stranded on shore for a range of reasons, such as when they lose their way or get trapped by tides, but scientists say there is no single definitive reason behind the phenomenon, which has been recorded throughout history.
Pilot whales, in particular, have close social bonds and when one member of a pod gets into difficulties others often follow them, resulting in mass strandings.
Almost a year ago a similar event involving pilot whales occurred on Lewis, another Scottish island located to the west of the mainland, when at least 55 whales died or were euthanized. A mass stranding also occurred in Western Australia earlier this year.
At least 65 pilot whales die in Scottish mass stranding
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At least 65 pilot whales die in Scottish mass stranding
- Medics found there to be about 77 animals high up the beach, having evidently been stranded for several hours already
- 12 of them were still alive
ABC signs Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension, months after temporary suspension
President Donald Trump won’t be getting his wish. ABC said Monday it has signed late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension.
Kimmel’s previous, multiyear contract had been set to expire next May, so the extension will keep him on the air until at least May 2027.
Kimmel’s future looked questionable in September, when ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for remarks made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Following a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspension, and Kimmel returned to the air with much stronger ratings than he had before.
He continued his relentless joking at the president’s expense, leading Trump to urge the network to “get the bum off the air” in a social media post last month. The post followed Kimmel’s nearly 10-minute monologue on Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Kimmel was even on Trump’s mind Sunday as the president hosted the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.
“I’ve watched some of the people that host,” Trump said. “I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”
Kimmel has hosted the Oscars four times, but he’s never hosted the Kennedy Center show.
Just last week, Kimmel was needling Trump on the president’s approval ratings. “There are gas stations on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Trump right now,” he said.
Kimmel will be staying longer than late-night colleague Stephen Colbert at CBS. The network announced this summer it was ending Colbert’s show next May for economic reasons, even though it is the top-rated network show in late-night television.
ABC has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003, during a time of upheaval in the industry. Like much of broadcast television, late-night ratings are down. Viewers increasingly turn to watching monologues online the day after they appear.
Most of Kimmel’s recent renewals have been multiyear extensions. There was no immediate word on whose choice it was to extend his current contract by one year.
Following Kirk’s killing, Kimmel was criticized for saying that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” The Nexstar and Sinclair television ownership groups said it would take Kimmel off the air, leading to ABC’s suspension.
When he returned to the air, Kimmel did not apologize for his remarks, but he said he did not intend to blame any specific group for Kirk’s assassination. He said “it was never my intention to make the light of the murder of a young man.”
