‘Pilot’ error responsible for disaster

HITLER mesmerised Germany and people followed him in their millions.

But, as subsequent events so tragically showed, blind devotion to leaders has its risk.

Pilot whales, it’s thought, also have a Führer but, in their matriarchal society, the boss is female. This ‘pilot’, from which the species gets its name, seems to call the shots, deciding where the pod goes and the routes to be taken. But her leadership, like Hitler’s, can end in tears. Was ‘pilot error’ responsible for the disaster at Rutland Island off Burtonport this month?