MELBOURNE, Australia – It was a serious sight: a pod of pilot whales, each up to 13 feet long and weighing less than a ton, lined up on a secluded beach in the Australian island state of Tasmania.
Already, half are dead. Those that were still alive swayed back and forth in the flat sand, jerking their fins.
On Wednesday, an estimated 230 of the animals were stranded near the town of Strahan on Tasmania’s west coast, just days after at least 14 sperm whales died after hunting. on King Island in Bass Straitabout 170 miles north.
Wednesday’s training has arrived two years till date following the worst mass whale stranding in Australia’s recorded history, when hundreds of pilot whales perished along a stretch of sand in Tasmania.
Sam Gerrity, a local boat captain who also works in the tourism industry, said of the stranding on Wednesday. His forecast is bleak. Mr Gerrity, who assisted after the stranding in 2020, said: “At least 95% will die because the ocean is so violent.
Government experts have traveled to the area to plan what they call a complex response to the scolding. Boats from a local fish farm tried to pull the whales that were still in the waters further ashore. But the growls and clicks of those on the ground were beckoning them with a deadly song of sirens.
Tasmania is a global hotspot for whale strandings. Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist who studies marine mammals at Macquarie University, says they’re still something of a mystery. “Every entanglement is different, and we don’t know when they will happen,” she said.
She said that the latest incident occurring on the exact date of the 2020 stranding may indicate some environmental factors related to the location or time of year.
But even that is conjecture, she added. The stranded whales may have been led astray by an unwell individual in the group; thrown by something in the area, like an unexpected coastal shelf; or have simply been startled by something in the water.
Pilot whales – technically a type of large dolphin – usually travel in groups of up to about 50. But those of a few hundred are not unheard of, and it’s possible they traveled together, Dr. Pirotta said. If one whale goes astray, it can wreak havoc on hundreds of others.
“Because they’re so social,” says Dr. Pirotta, “it’s a front-runner situation.”
In 2020, about 110 of the 470 whales have been rescued, while many of the dead are dragged out to sea to decompose far from shore. This time, the location of the stranding, as well as unpredictable weather and waves as high as 50 feet, will complicate rescue efforts. More whales are expected to die overnight.
Disposing of their carcasses can be even more difficult. Mr. Gerrity said in the next few days the sets of remains will start to break apart, complicating handling.
Mass graves, which have been used on previous occasions, also have their problems. When a whale is damaged, it can leak both oil, which can harm other wildlife, and fluids, which attract creatures like sharks, making the beach dangerous for swimmers. .
Dr Pirotta said, if there was any silver layer from the mass-linked wires, “information that we can get from dead animals will contribute to science”.
