This image from a video shows rescuers in shallow water teeming with whales near Strahan, Australia, on Thursday.
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP
This image from a video shows rescuers in shallow water teeming with whales near Strahan, Australia, on Thursday.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP
HOBART, Australia – Wildlife experts on Thursday rescued 32 of 230 whales found stranded on the wild and remote west coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania the day before.
Half of the pilot whales found stranded in Port Macquarie are believed to be still alive on Wednesday, the Tasmanian Department of Environment and Resources said.
But only 35 people survived the intense overnight surf, said Brendon Clark, Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife manager.
Clark told reporters late on Thursday in nearby Strahan: “Of the 35 that were alive this morning, we managed to re-operate, rescue and release … 32 of them, and that’s it. It’s a great result.”
“We still have three animals living at the extreme north end of Ocean Beach, but due to access restrictions, mainly tidal effects, we cannot safely reach those three animals today. But they are. will be our priority tomorrow morning,” Clark added.
Image from a video showing rescuers using slings to move one of the whales near Strahan on Thursday.
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Image from a video showing rescuers using slings to move one of the whales near Strahan on Thursday.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP
The whales drifted for two years until the next day Largest mass stranding in Australian history was discovered in the same harbor.
About 470 longfin pilot whales were found on September 21, 2020, stranded on sandy beaches. After a week-long effort, 111 of those whales were rescued but the rest died.
The entrance to the harbor is a famously shallow and treacherous canal known as Hell’s Gate.
In this image from a video, a whale swims after rescuers released it near Strahan on Thursday.
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP
In this image from a video, a whale swims after rescuers released it near Strahan on Thursday.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP
Marine Conservation Program biologist Kris Carlyon said the dead whales would be examined to see if there were toxins in their systems that could account for the disaster.
“These mass stranding events are often the result of accidental landings, and that’s for a variety of reasons,” says Carlyon.
Local salmon farmer Linton Kringle helped with the 2020 rescue effort and said Thursday’s challenge was tougher because the whales were in shallower water and more exposed.
This image from a video shows the whales stranded on Ocean Beach near Strahan on Thursday.
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CHANNEL 9 via AP
This image from a video shows the whales stranded on Ocean Beach near Strahan on Thursday.
CHANNEL 9 via AP
Fourteen sperm whales were discovered Monday afternoon on King Island in Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania.
Marine scientist Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University said it was unusual for sperm whales to wash ashore. He said that warmer temperatures could also alter ocean currents and move the whales’ traditional food.
