Mass stranding of pilot whales in Tasmania

Tasmanian rescuers are racing against time to save a number of pilot whales that have stranded in shallow waters on Monday, 21 September. An estimated 270 whales are involved in the stranding and 90 have already died, according to the BBC.

Around 25 whales have been saved as of Tuesday, September 22 and rescuers are working tirelessly to get more back into the open ocean.

#BREAKING: Authorities say they have rescued about 25 whales stranded on Tasmania’s West Coast, with the number expected to rise as efforts continue this evening.

— ABC News (@abcnews) September 22, 2020

The cause of the stranding is unknown but pilot whales are known to strand en masse. Strandings are common in this part of Australia but one of this size has not occurred in over 10 years.

‘Whale strandings are not uncommon in Tasmania, and whale strandings of this scale are not uncommon either, but certainly we haven’t had one for at least 10 years,’ said Nic Deka from Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment to ABC News.

A team of 40 trained rescuers worked to ‘re-float’ a few whales on Tuesday, September 22 using special equipment to get the animals off a sandbar and into deeper waters.

‘Normally we’re dealing with animals high and dry on the beach. This is different. We’ve got animals semi-buoyant so it probably won’t take too much to re-float them – just involves a bit of grunt,’ said wildlife biologist Dr Kris Carlyon to BBC.

In speaking about the stranding Dr Clayton said: ‘It might have been a single misadventure by one or two of them and because pilot whales are such a social species, that may have drawn the other animals in.’