KARACHI March 6, 2009 will forever be remembered as the 'Day of the dolphin stranding' in Pakistan, after around 250 cetaceans were found stranded along Gadani beach.

According to a WWF press release issued on Monday, the stranding could have been due to any number of reasons, and is an event which has played itself out around the world, baffling scientists, environmentalists and policy makers, PPI reported.

Dolphins are playful, friendly and social creatures which have inhabited the sea for centuries. This social behaviour could have been a possibility of the stranding. One single dolphin coming to the shore and getting stranded would have evoked a social response 'a call for help' whistling (a mode of communication) enticing the schools of dolphins nearby to come to its aid, and become inadvertently stranded.

Another reason could have been due to the result of a phenomenon known as 'red tide.' This occurs due to the concentration of certain protozoans release toxic compounds which absorb all the oxygen in the area, disturbing the area's biological equilibrium and disorienting dolphins, leading to beaching.

Furthermore, this would have been due to sonar activity in the area, which has grown rapidly in recent years. Cetaceans including whales, dolphins and porpoises are very sensitive to ultra-sonic waves which damage the auditory/sensory organs often disturbing them and disorienting their migratory patterns.

If sonic activity is to blame, it would leave a physical trace in the form of bleeding in the auditory organs like the snouts and mouths of beached dolphins.

However, historical records show that beachings have occurred throughout recorded history, even before major man-made sonic activity in the seas, making it even harder to explain.

But the incident at Gadani Beach must have awakened the concerned wildlife authorities and policy makers to place an effective watch and warning mechanism to keep an eye on such happenings in future.