Sample translation: 'Eight Sperm Whales Stranded'


I thought it was high time that I provided you all with a sample of the German → English translations I offer. This particular piece was done as a favour to my friend, Emma, who is a marine biologist and the Ranger of Sanday.

It's quite a sad topic, but interesting nonetheless. The original article can be read here.

Eight sperm whales stranded 


As many as eight young bulls have perished at the Wadden Sea at Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein. The animals were stranded around two kilometres from the dyke in Upper Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog - as the Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Conservation Agency (the LKN) announced on Monday. 

Up to eight sperm whales were stranded at the Wadden Sea 


By: The German Press Agency dpa 
Article posted: Monday, 01.02.2016 17:53 
Source: Brunckhorst / LKN.SH / AFP 

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog. The animals, which were between nine and twelve metres long, were discovered on Sunday evening. An LKN announcement stated that "one of the animals was dying at that time, while the others were already dead". The eight whale carcasses were reported to be close to one another - around five kilometres south of the Friedrichskoog Harbour, in the inaccessible zone 1 of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park. The salvaging is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. 

In January, at least 16 (other) sperm whales were discovered along the North Sea coasts of Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Experts suspect that they swam the wrong way on their migration route. None of the animals survived. 

Deadly trap for sperm whales 


The whales have been classified as belonging to the 'Azores stock'. Males of this population often spend the winter in the North Atlantic. On their way back to the southern Atlantic, some of them get into the North Sea and the Wadden Sea - a fatal mistake. The water is shallow there, meaning that the whales’ sense of orientation via echolocation no longer works. If a sperm whale weighing over a ton becomes stranded, the weight of its body can put pressure on the blood vessels and the lungs, so that it dies from acute cardiovascular failure. 

The shallow North Sea has been known as a deadly trap for sperm whales for hundreds of years. Strandings have been documented since the 16th Century, according to the Büsumer Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research. "So far we have no direct evidence that a specific, individual influence has led these animals to come and be stranded in the North Sea," said the institute’s director Ursula Siebert. 

The fact that so many animals have been stranded at once could have something to do with the 'stocks' of sperm whales recovering in number. Therefore, more animals have taken to using the migration route.

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To find out more about Emma's work, you can join her 'Sanday Ranger' Facebook page here.

If you wish to contact me about German → English translations, please send an e-mail to info@proofread-english.com, for a free non-binding quotation. 

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