In Tasmania, A Mission To Rescue 270 Stranded Whales

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An estimated 270 pilot whales have become stuck on sandy shoals along the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Government marine conservation staff were deployed to the scene to attempt to rescue the whales.

Brodie Weeding/AP

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Brodie Weeding/AP

AFP News Agency
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Twenty staff members had already arrived with specialized equipment for the mission.

«When we start making an effort tomorrow, it will be with an outward-going tide, so that will be in our favor, but obviously tides go up and down so we’ll be aiming to make the most of the situation,» Deka told ABC.

A species profile from the Australian government describes the long-finned pilot whale as «highly gregarious, usually travelling in small, socially cohesive groups of around 10–50 individuals, but are also encountered in large herds of several hundred and occasionally of over 1000 individuals.»

Unfortunately, the beaching of a large number of whales is not uncommon in the area.

Tasmania has more whale strandings than any other Australian state, and Macquarie Harbour is one of the most common sites for such events. Authorities in Tasmania respond to strandings of whales or dolphins every two to three weeks, Reuters reports.

«Their social groups and strong bonding between the groups causes often all of them to strand,» Griffith University whale researcher Olaf Meynecke told the news service.

And the frequency of such strandings doesn’t make the rescue attempts any easier.

«It’s a massive effort with any stranding, but [this many] is a big task,» Marine biologist Vanessa Pirotta told The Sydney Morning Herald.

«Marine animals have never felt their own weight before,» Pirotta said. «They can die from overheating or die from the weight of their body resting on the sand.»

• stranded whales
• Australia