Posted 9/23/2022 10:03 am / updated 9/23/2022 10:12 am
(Credit: Glenn NICHOLLS / AFP)
Ocean Beach, Australia Australian rescue teams worked on Friday (23/9) to rescue the last of the pilot whales stranded on a beach in Tasmania, where more than 200 animals have died this week.
Fewer than 10 whales reside at Ocean Beach, local officials said.
“The priority remains the rescue and release of the remaining animals,” said Brendon Clark, director of the Tasmanian Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Three whales have not yet been rescued because they are too far from shore and difficult tidal conditions, he said.
More than 30 whales were released Thursday, but some again stranded on Ocean Beach.
Nearly 230 pilot whales were found on the beach on Wednesday, and rescuers and local residents have been working to save the mammals ever since.
Macquarie Harbour, region of the phenomenon, was the scene of the stranding of nearly 500 pilot whales two years ago, the largest ever recorded in the country. More than 300 died despite efforts to rescue them in Tasmania’s glacial waters.
The reason for the stranding is unknown.
Scientists suspect that the phenomenon could be caused by animals that got lost near the coast after foraging for food.
Pilot whales, which can reach six meters, are very sociable and tend to follow their groupmates when in danger.
Sometimes this happens when older, sick, or injured whales swim ashore and other members of the group follow them to respond to the beached whale’s distress signals.