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Rescue teams fighting to save a herd of 270 beached whales in western Tasmania have discovered another 200 whales about 10 km away in the same harbor, all of which appear to be dead. The stranding is probably one of the largest recorded globally and the worst in Australian history.
The sighting was made by helicopter over Macquarie Harbor on Wednesday morning and brings the total number of long-finned pilot whales killed in the stranding to about 290.
The death toll could rise further today as infrared helicopter surveillance data is analyzed, said Nic Deka, rescue coordinator for the regional manager of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
Dr Kris Carlyon, a wildlife biologist with the marine conservation program, said Wednesday that the addition of 200 whales made this stream the largest in Tasmania’s history.
Records show that some 294 whales, also long-finned pilots, were stranded at Stanley in northwestern Tasmania in 1935.
Around 60 rescuers led by the Tasmanian government’s Marine Conservation Program are entering the second day of the rescue that focuses on an area called the Fraser Flats, near the town of Strahan.
Roughly 25 whales were lifted from sandbars and washed into open water by boat on Tuesday, but two had returned to the main stranded pod.
Deka said the new group of 200 whales was in two bays 7 to 10 kilometers south of the main rescue site.
It appears they were undetected and likely entered the port at about the same time as the others. A team was heading to the new stranding site Wednesday morning. The port is about 35 km long and about 8 km wide.
Deka said, “From the air, most appear to be dead.”
When asked why they hadn’t seen them before, he said: “The water is a very dark tannin color and maybe they got stranded and then returned to the bay. From the air they did not appear to be in a condition to be rescued. “
He said that even if those 200 whales had been spotted Monday night when the northern group was discovered, it was unlikely he would have changed his strategy.
When the first 270 whales were discovered, an estimated 90 were already dead. “We would still have focused our efforts on the Fraser Flats because they have the best chance of survival.”
On Tuesday, Deka told Guardian Australia that two methods were being considered. Burying whales in a landfill was one, or towing them out to sea and using ocean currents to keep them out to sea was another.
“We know that we cannot leave them in port because they will present a variety of problems. We are committed to recovery and disposal. “
He said Wednesday that attention remained focused on saving the whales at the Fraser Flats and that he was optimistic that the 25 whales saved yesterday would be joined by more today.
Some 40 government staff and 20 volunteers, mostly from the port’s fish industry, are submerged up to their chests in the water, maneuvering large nets under the whales and lifting them from the sand.
Tags are attached to rescued whales to monitor them. Pilot whales are very social and need to get far enough away from the main group so that they don’t turn around and come back.
Deka said it was disappointing that two whales saved Tuesday had returned to the stranding site, “but most of the whales [we saved] they are still in deep water and they are still swimming. We have been more successful than not. “
Carylon said: “There is nothing to indicate that this [stranding] it is caused by humans. This is a natural event and we know that strandings have occurred before and we know this from the fossil record.
“In terms of being able to prevent this from happening, there is little we can do.”
Although Carylon said the event was natural, there was a public expectation that survivors should be helped.
Euthanasia of some animals was an option, he said, but it was not a simple practice and was not being considered at this stage.
“We think we have a chance with the animals that are still alive.”
Dr. Karen Stockin, Associate Professor at Massey University in New Zealand, is an expert on whale and dolphin stranding globally and is part of an International Whaling Commission panel of experts on the subject.
She said the Macquarie Harbor stranding was probably the largest in Australia.
“It’s fair to say that this will probably rank third or fourth globally [in terms of the numbers of stranded animals]. “
Long-finned pilot whales, which can live up to 40 years, were known for their large strandings, Stockin said, because of the way they are kept together in tight social structures.
“Some will remain in their pods for their entire lives,” he said.
