Until now, it has been contentious as to whether cetaceans could suffer from the disorientating sickness that can cause everything from skin rashes to death in extreme cases in humans, the University writes on its website.

Their new study published 21 December provides evidence of bubble formation in the bodies of beached whales and seals that suggests the potential for decompression sickness, caused by the pressure experienced during deep sea diving.

The research also suggests that excessive human noise, such as exposure to military sonar, might cause disorientation in marine mammals, leading to them losing their natural defences and to succumb to the bends rather than avoid them.

Lead researcher Dr Sascha Hooker of the University of St Andrews commented, “Decompression sickness, commonly known as 'the bends' is a serious problem for human divers, but the jury has been out as to whether marine mammals could get the bends or if it would be as serious for them.

“Unfortunately the technology doesn’t yet exist to measure what is going on physiologically inside a free-living whale during its descent to depths of over 1000 metres.

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