Why do whales swim up beaches?

We've never been quite sure why whales sometimes become lost, ground themselves on a beach, and die.

Until now.

We finally have enough data to see a pattern. Whale strandings occur...

...at the time of major solar storms.

The theory now is that these huge animals are so sensitive to the earth's magnetic field that when a CME or solar flare disrupts it, they become effectively blind and may accidentally swim into the shore.

This may be proof that whales navigate by the magnetic field but, unfortunately, doesn't give us any options to help the poor whales other than trying to push them back into the water.