A very intriguing question. My answer is, if whales are trying to evolve, they are not doing a very good job. In order to evolve any new traits must be beneficial and a personal desire to relocate from the sea to ‘up-there’ probably isn’t too beneficial for a whale.
Evolution takes place over many, many thousands of years so it is unlikely that the washed up whale is trying to evolve. Have a look at the related questions such as:
Hold on to your thought Yorgandji. Evolution doesn’t take place on a human timescale, but over millions of years, and there are bound to be plenty of “too-much, too soon” failures. But realistically a whale would need to undergo a lot of physical changes before it could function on dry land, even for short periods, and humans would be sure to spot them.
Perhaps a parasite is involved. I’ve heard of some that affect insect brains, causing them to move out their normal habitat (where they die) so the infection can spread more easily to the next part of its life cycle.
Conspiracy theorists seem to favour high-power military sonar installations causing dolphins/whales to beach themselves for some peace & quiet.
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Vanamonde commented on :
Hold on to your thought Yorgandji. Evolution doesn’t take place on a human timescale, but over millions of years, and there are bound to be plenty of “too-much, too soon” failures. But realistically a whale would need to undergo a lot of physical changes before it could function on dry land, even for short periods, and humans would be sure to spot them.
Perhaps a parasite is involved. I’ve heard of some that affect insect brains, causing them to move out their normal habitat (where they die) so the infection can spread more easily to the next part of its life cycle.
Conspiracy theorists seem to favour high-power military sonar installations causing dolphins/whales to beach themselves for some peace & quiet.