... 'may be linked to a Nato sonar anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Iceland this summer'

• There have been at least 29 beaked whale sightings over the past few weeks
• This coincided with a sonar anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Iceland 
• Experts say so many strandings and sightings likely come form a single cause 

Over the past few weeks there have been 29 strandings or sightings of rare beaked whales throughout Europe - and experts think a Nato sonar exercise is to blame. 

The Nato sonar anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Iceland happened in July and within two weeks whales began to appear in unusual locations.

Sonar commonly used by America and Nato can cause decompression sickness or a form of narcosis in deep sea whale species and cause them to beach themselves.

It is incredibly rare to see a beaked whale and so to find so many stranded or in shallow water in a short period of time suggests a single cause, experts say.

Two rare deep-sea whales were found beached on British shores within 24 hours of each other last weekend and zoologists are currently examining the bodies.

Two rare deep-sea whales have been beached on British shores within 24 hours of each other. A Sowerby's beaked whale first washed up in Lowestoft, Norfolk, on Saturday, and was swiftly attended by investigators

Storms and recent bad weather could be behind the strandings, but Dutch whale researcher Jeroen Hoekendijk says the sonar exercise is a likely cause

The aquatic mammals can only feed deep under the ocean and so when they show up in shallower waters it can be fatal as they can't find sources of food.