MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — More than 150 false killer whales are stranded on a remote beach on Australia’s island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday.
Marine experts including veterinarians were at the scene near Arthur River on Tasmania’s northwest coast, a Department of Natural Resources and Environment statement said.
Of the 157 beached whales, 136 appeared to still be alive, the statement said.
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The inaccessibility of the beach, ocean conditions and challenges to getting specialist equipment to the remote area were complicating a response, the statement said,
Authorities have not yet requested public help to rescue the whales, the department said.
Arthur River local resident Jocelyn Flint said her son had discovered the stranded whales around midnight while fishing for shark. Flint believed authorities were alerted on Tuesday afternoon.
She said she had gone to the scene in the dark hours of the morning and returned after dawn but the whales were too big to attempt to refloat them.
“The water was surging right up and they were thrashing. They’re just dying, they’ve sunk down in the sand,” Flint said. “I think it’s too late.”
“There are little babies. Up one end, there’s a lot of big ones. It’s sad,” she added.
In 2022, 230 pilot whales stranded further south on the west coast at Macquarie Harbor.
The largest mass-stranding in Australian history occurred in the same harbor in 2020 when 470 long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars. Most of the beached whales died on both occasions.
The reasons for the beachings are unclear. Reasons could include disorientation caused by loud noises, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.
