Aussie whale rescuers face gloomy task

HOBART: After days wading through chilly waters, surrounded by the pained cries of hundreds of stranded whales on Australia’s south coast, rescuers faced the grim task yesterday of disposing of the carcasses.

In “one hell of an effort”, a crew of around 100 conservationists and skilled volunteers saved 94 of the 470 animals stranded on Tasmania’s rugged western seaboard — Australia’s largest-ever mass stranding, Tasmanian environment department marine biologist Kris Carlyon said.

“With this one, we are dealing with something unique, we haven’t dealt with a stranding of this type before,” Ms Carlyon said, adding the offshore rescue of such a large number was particularly unusual.

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife lowered its estimate of the death toll from 380 to 350 yesterday, and rescuers remained hopeful they could save up to 20 more of the creatures.

But the focus was shifting to how to dispose of the carcasses as quickly as possible over fears the decomposing corpses could damage the environment in Macquarie Harbour, drift into the paths of boats or attract sharks.

Several methods were being trialled for moving the dead whales — including towing them out to sea before cutting them loose to sink in deeper water.

“They’re hard moments, when there’s so much to go and it just feels defeating, it feels never-ending,” Wildcare volunteer Josh Gourlay said. “But ... we’ve done really well.”