Tasmania's danger zone for whales

For the second time in the space of two years, there's been a mass stranding of whales on Tasmanian shores. This time, 226 long-finned pilot whales became beached, close to where 500 animals of the same species were similarly stranded in 2020.

The location's proving to be a global hotspot for both pilot whale and sperm whale strandings, something which marine biologist Sam Thalmann - employed by the Tasmania Environment Department - admits poses serious difficulties.

Sam Thalmann: "so we're experienced, and we've developed some very special techniques that are adapted to the local conditions. And so we're getting better all the time. It's still a very challenging response to undertake. But yeah, we- we improve every time, and it's always a challenge."

Although the conservationists' expertise has grown immensely, and considerable time's been spent endeavouring to refloat the surviving mammals, approximately 200 stranded whales have perished. Detailed analysis of the cetaceans' corpses is now under way, in an effort to fully fathom the phenomenon of stranding.

Sam Thalmann: "We're doing investigations and collecting samples that will- hopefully, help us then understand some of the mechanisms and and hopefully, potentially the processes as to why these animals strand at this location."

Given the highly social traits of pilot whales, it's conceivable that they may stray into danger after following pod mates. It's known that ageing or ailing animals occasionally swim ashore, and younger pod members could be following suit. Other experts hypothesise that Tasmania's gently sloping beaches might disorientate the whales' sonar, confusing them into thinking they're in open water.

In this instance, 32 of the 226 creatures were successfully hauled back out to sea, but not before each individual was tagged to ensure they're kept under careful surveillance.

Nevertheless, it's possible that rescuers haven't seen the last of these particular majestic beasts.

Sam Thalmann: "There may be a few that may restrand, unfortunately, but we expect the, by far the- the majority, will head out to sea. But we'll certainly keep surveillance and monitoring for those ones that do restrand and then we'll assess their condition, if and when that happens."

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