The Nation : Beached Whales Had Flu

Fourteen pilot whales that stranded themselves on Cape Cod beaches and died this month were infected with a flu virus, possibly explaining why the three-ton mammals headed for land, scientists said. “This is the first recording of a large-scale influenza in stranded whales,” said Mimi Simpson, spokeswoman for the New England Aquarium in Boston. “We have had isolated cases before, but nothing of this scale.” Preliminary results showed 14 of 16 lung samples from the 28 pilot whales that died after a Dec. 3 beaching were infected with the unidentified flu virus, she said. The whales were found near where more than 500 harbor seals died of a flu virus in 1979 and 1980.