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In the coast of Galicia an average of 200 stranded cetaceans are reported annually. From 1990 to 2013, 21 individuals of four species of the family Ziphiidae were found: 15 Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), two Sowerby's beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens), one True's beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus) and one Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), as well as two unidentified ones. These were the first records in Galicia for True's beaked whale and Blainville's beaked whale. The study of the distribution of oceanic species considering only stranded animals has limitations, but is a good approach to this not well-known cetacean family. Due to the small number of individuals of the different species, statistical analyses for geographic or seasonal patterns were only carried out for the Cuvier's beaked whales. Between the periods of 1990-2002 and 2003-2013 significant differences were found for geographic and seasonal occurrence patterns. Over the last decade strandings were located only in the north area of the region, mainly during the spring season, while in the previous decade they were located along the three considered areas and only in autumn and winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been several incidents in which U.S. Navy sonar operations at sea coincided in time and location with a mass stranding of marine mammals, particularly beaked whales. Although a conclusive cause-and-effect relationship has not been established, there is strong evidence and scientific concern that use of military sonar has resulted in beaked whale mass strandings. Most previous attempts to determine whether military sonar use and whale strandings are correlated have looked at mass stranding records of beaked whales and have singled out those instances in which military operations appear to coincide in time and location with a mass stranding event. In this study, historical data on beaked whale mass strandings and military exercises that were likely to include active sonar use were compiled, and statistical analyses were performed to determine the level of correlation between these events for four geographic regions. Strandings were significantly correlated with naval activity in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, but not off the coasts of Japan and southern California. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]