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More pilot whales were found stranded off the Australian coast this Wednesday, bringing the estimated total to nearly 500, the largest such incident in the country.
Authorities had already begun operations to rescue survivors from among hundreds of whales found Monday on a beach and on two sandbars near the remote town of Strahan on the west coast of the island state of Tasmania.
At least 380 whales were killed, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service manager Nic Deka said. Only 90 are left alive, while some 30 whales were pulled from the sandbanks, but several were stranded again.
Tasmania is the only area in Australia that is prone to mass stranding, although it occasionally occurs on the Australian mainland.
The largest such incident in Australia to date occurred in 1996, when 320 pilot whales were stranded near the Western Australian town of Dunsborough in 1996.
This is the first in Tasmania since 2009 involving more than 50 whales.
“In Tasmania, this is the largest mass chain that we have ever recorded,” said Marine Conservation Program biologist Kris Carlyon.
Rescuers remain optimistic about the possibility of releasing more whales, according to the same source.
In neighboring New Zealand, more than 600 pilot whales arrived in the South Island at Farewell Spit in 2017.
It’s unclear what prompted such a large group to head into shallow water, but pilot whales are social animals, so if one of them makes the mistake of getting too close to shore, feeding or becoming disoriented due to illness. , for example, others follow. Another possibility is to reach the coast attracted by the sonars of the large ships.
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