Tsunamis can cause devastating damage and can result in fatal tragedies, including for some marine wildlife. But for some animals, they can be unaware of any changes during the natural disaster at all
A huge tsunami has hit Hawaii, Japan, and Russia, and millions of people were told to evacuate as towering waves loom. But what happens to wildlife during these terrifying natural disasters?
Residents in Hawaii, parts of the US West Coast, and Japan were told to evacuate after the 8.8-magnitude quake erupted off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. It has been recorded as one of the strongest earthquakes and was centered about 74 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Centre in Alaska, explained what happens during the catastrophic event, which is caused by a disturbance in the ocean. He explained: “A tsunami is not just one wave. It’s a series of powerful waves over a long period of time.
“Tsunamis cross the ocean at hundreds of miles an hour – as fast as a jet airplane – in deep water. But when they get close to the shore, they slow down and start to pile up. And that’s where that inundation problem becomes a little bit more possible there.”
Whales have started to wash ashore in Japan, which has raised questions about what really happens to creatures when huge waves engulf residential areas and disrupt the ocean. But it turns out that some marine animals don’t notice anything out of the ordinary at all.
Marine conservation biologist, Dr. David Shiffman, told Scuba Diving: “While the wave is still over relatively deep water, the water level only rises a few inches, and marine animals there probably wouldn’t notice that anything had happened – ships in deep water during a tsunami report being unaware that anything had passed by them.”
Sadly, this doesn’t mean all sea life creatures are safe. “Others will be killed quickly and painlessly by the force of the tsunami. Still others will die later as a result of habitat destruction or water-quality issues caused by the tsunami’s passage,” Dr Shiffman added.
He further explained that the problem occurs when the waves reach “relatively shallow water, which causes it to slow down, resulting in the wave growing much higher and forming the destructive force we associate with tsunamis”. This forces ocean water out to sea, and any marine animals that don’t move with it could be left stranded on the shore.
Whales are just one of the marine mammals that can be stranded following a tsunami, and can be brutally pushed against tidal rocks. In addition, sharks can also be impacted by the severe force and change in currents, with the risk of being stranded or swept out to unfamiliar waters.
The lethal tsunami that struck north-east Japan in 2011 reportedly dragged almost 300 species of sea life and over 1 million creatures across more than 4,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the US. Expert at Oregon State University, John Chapman, told the Guardian at the time: “This has turned out to be one of the biggest unplanned natural experiments in marine biology – perhaps in history.”
In addition, after the waves have flooded onto land, the water can carry a mixture of debris back into the ocean. This debris can be filled with a “variety of toxic chemicals,” the expert said, and can also “stir up sediment,” which can affect the water clarity and quality that can be damaging to marine wildlife.
Yet, it’s not all bad news, as animals are believed to have a “sixth sense” and have fled to safety before a tsunami has hit. Back in 2005, before a tsunami hit Sri Lanka and India, National Geographic revealed that various witnesses saw animals take action.
They reportedly saw elephants “scream and run for higher ground” and flamingos leave their “low-lying breeding areas.” Dogs are said to have refused to go outdoors, and zoo animals sought refuge in their shelters.