How about an animal version of COMMON SENSE? Unlike the humans, the animals didn't stand around at the beach watching the waves come in. At the first hint that something was amiss they ran.
I've read that before a tidal wave hits, the water along the shore drops significantly. It happened decades ago in Alaska, but there teachers brought schoolkids to the beach so they could see the exposed sea bottom and stranded fish. Some folks even walked out to gather fish. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a massive wave hits and many people are killed.
I don't want to sound callous but if I lived along a shoreline, especially on a low lying island, I'd be danged sure to make myself familiar with the tides and waves and the possibility of tsunami.
Kinda like knowing how to hunker down in a spring or winter storm or hurricane. Or what to do when conditions are favorable for a tornado.
It's my opinion lots of these people had >some< advance warning but instead of preparing for it, they vastly understimated what was going to happen and hung around to see the waves come in. Tourists excepted ...sorta.
Why prepare? Someone else will take care of you if problems occur. And if they don't, you can sue them.
I don't think the sea level always drops before a tsunami hits. In the simulations I've seen, the "Thai side" of had a precursor dip, but the "India side" had a surge first. The way the ocean floor moved, water was sucked from the east to create the wave in the west.
You say, "How about an animal version of COMMON SENSE?"
Interesting. Maybe it is like the last election? While humans get caught up in the "nuance" of what may be occuring and trying to make the perfect decision, the animals react from the gut and run for it!
When I heard this, it made me think of the term people have used to describe this as "biblical proportions" where in places in the Old Testament, livestock were spared devastation. You have to wonder what went on that we don't see.
Yes...they see dead people.