Hundreds of stranded whales in Australia died: carcasses are to be taken to the open sea

Created: 09/24/2022, 06:29 am

By: Patrick Huljina

About 230 pilot whales were stranded in Australia on Wednesday.

Most of the animals could not be saved.

Now the carcasses are to be returned to the sea.

Hobart - Australian media had reported a "race against time" - it was lost for around 200 animals.

About 230 pilot whales were stranded in remote Macquarie Bay in Tasmania on Wednesday (September 21).

According to eyewitnesses, half of the animals were still alive.

On Friday morning, this was only true for a few of the giant marine mammals.

Australia: Hundreds of whales stranded in Tasmania - many dead

Helpers first tried to moisten the whales stranded in Australia with buckets of water and wet towels.

It was only on Thursday that 32 of the peaceful giants - some of which weigh two and a half tons - were brought back into deep water with heavy equipment and boats.

However, the logistical challenge was enormous: Ocean Beach, where most of the animals stranded, is about a 30-minute walk from the nearest parking lot.

More than 200 dead whales are now left on the beach.

Most of the carcasses are to be taken back to the open sea.

The reason: Exactly two years ago, 470 pilot whales were stranded in the same bay on the west coast of Tasmania, only 111 animals survived.

The emergency services had left most of the carcasses on the beach at the time.

Authorities had hoped for natural decomposition, "but that hasn't happened in a satisfactory timeframe," Brendon Clark of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service told Australian broadcaster ABC.

Helpers tried to moisten the more than 200 stranded whales with buckets of water and wet towels.

© Uncredited/Australian Broadcasting Corporation/AP/dpa

Beached whales in Australia: Carcasses are to be taken out to sea

The result: A terrible stench emanated from Ocean Beach at the time.

The dead whales could also attract sharks or transmit diseases in shallow water or on the beach, Clark explained.

Therefore, the carcasses should now be brought back to the open sea.

In order to prevent the dead whales from being washed ashore later, they are to be brought to the edge of the continental shelf, which forms the transition to the deep sea.

This is about 40 kilometers from the coast.

The animals were pulled into the ocean with lines attached to boats, it said.

Hundreds of whales stranded in Tasmania: Extremely close bonds among the animals

However, there is also a risk of returning to the beach for the animals that have already been rescued.

Ten of the whales brought back alive have returned to shore, two of them have even died on the beach.

This is a typical characteristic of pilot whales that makes rescuing stranded animals a great challenge.

The marine mammals form extremely close bonds with each other within their group.

After mass strandings, surviving whales often attempt to swim back to their friends and family.

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Pilot whales are now in large groups in the Australian spring and towards the end of winter, whale researcher Olaf Meynecke from Griffith University in Queensland told the German Press Agency.

This increases the risk of a mass stranding.

“Some animals can be sick and get lost in a bay with shallow water.

Subgroups with which the whales are friends or related will follow them - literally to the death."