88 whales saved in nation’s worst mass beaching
CANBERRA, Australia — Authorities have rescued 88 pilot whales and are attempting to free 20 others that survived Australia’s worst mass stranding, as crews prepare to remove 380 decomposing carcasses from the shallows of Tasmania state, officials said Thursday.
Crews found the 20 whales that are still alive on the fourth day of the rescue operation, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Manager Nic Deka said.
“Whenever we’ve got live animals that have a chance and we have the resources, then we’ll certainly give it a go,” Deka said.
Almost 500 whales were discovered on Monday and Wednesday beached on the shore and sand bars along the remote west coast of the island state near the town of Strahan.
The task of removing hundreds of tons of whale carcasses begins Friday and is likely to take days, Marine Conservation Program wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said.
Methods under consideration include towing the carcasses or loading them on barges to take them out to sea to be dumped somewhere where they will not drift ashore or create navigational hazards.
Carlyon said rescue crews were working 12hour days.
“Everyone’s tired, feeling the fatigue, long days,” Carlyon said. “The emotional toll can be significant.”
Why the whales ran aground is a mystery. Usually, lone animals beach themselves if they are sick, but when it comes to mass strandings, there are a number of theories. A pod could be following an unwell leader, or hunting prey that enters shallow waters. Less likely explanations include the whales becoming disoriented by sonar or undersea earthquakes, said Mike Double, a scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division, a research group, and a government adviser on whales who is not involved in the current rescue effort.
During the week, crews at the site described confronting and emotional scenes as the whales could be heard calling out to each other in distress.
Pilot whales are a very social species and there were concerns many would become stranded again to be with the herd once rescued.
Experts also say that due to their social group behavior, if one whale loses its way and strands, the rest of the pod will often want to swim to its aid.
Twice, in 1985 and 1990, a humpback whale, known as Humphrey, was lured from the San Francisco Bay with recordings of his species’ call.
Tasmania is the only part of Australia prone to mass strandings, although they occasionally occur on the Australian mainland.
Australia’s largest mass stranding had previously been 320 pilot whales near the Western Australia state town of Dunsborough in 1996.
Tasmania’s previous largest stranding involved 294 whales on the northwest coast in 1935.