Originally published on December 5, 2013 <br /><br />Rescuers in Everglades National Park in southwest Florida are trying to save dozens of whales swimming in dangerously shallow waters, after ten already stranded and died on Wednesday.<br /><br />A whale may strand itself due to illness or injury which affecting its navigation system.<br /><br />Once in shallow waters, the whale can easily get trapped by the changing tide. <br /><br />Since whales live in tightly cohesive groups, one sick animal's calls of distress can cause an entire pod to respond and strand itself too.<br /><br />Underwater seismic activity can also cause whale stranding.<br /><br />Scientists however have now proven a link between stranding and the use of navy sonar, which is believed not only to disrupt the whales' navigation system but also to cause a physical trauma on the animal which can include brain, ears and internal tissues bleeding.<br /><br />According to the Huffington Post, an independent scientific review panel of scientists, conservation organizations and government agencies released a report in September in which it concluded that "the mass stranding of approximately 100 melon-headed whales in the Loza Lagoon system in northwest Madagascar in 2008 was primarily triggered by acoustic stimuli, more specifically, a multi-beam echosounder system operated by a survey vessel contracted by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production (Northern Madagascar) Limited."<br /><br />The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also acknowledged a correlation with sonar in a similar mass stranding of melon-headed whales occurred in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii in 2004., the Huffington Post reported.<br /><br />At the time of the stranding, the Navy was conducting exercises involving loud sonar in the area.<br /><br />The report comes at a time when there is considerable pressure from the oil industry to open up more areas for offshore seismic exploration which could be devastating for whales and dolphins.<br /><br />According to Marine mammal biologist Candace Calloway Whiting, in areas where the searc
