Rescuers say the noise is the worst part. When whales are stranded on a beach, they keep calling to one another. Others will come in from safe water and join their dying pod. | EXPLAINER Cetacea whales tasmania stranded
APWhales can strand alone, often sick and unable to keep swimming. A sperm whale might wash up with a belly full of plastic. Or animals can strand in groups, as commonly happens with pilot whales and other orcas such as killer whales. The biggest on record involved more than 1000 pilot whales in New Zealand in 1918.from misadventure to navigation errors.
By the time the whales realise they have strayed too far, they are already trapped. "They don’t know where to go, or how to get out, they run out of water. They panic." 'They don’t have hands, they can’t roll themselves over. When the tide comes up, sometimes people have to move them so they can breathe.'
'Whenever we've got live animals that have a chance, and we have the resources, then we'll certainly give it a go.' Wildlife biologist Dr Kris Carlyon says crews are rotating regularly but the job still takes a physical and emotional toll. "It’s pretty confronting. This is such a tricky event … any whale we save we are considering a real win."It's a well-known but heartbreaking phenomenon, now playing out in Tasmania. Whales seem to deliberately re-strand themselves to get back to those still on the shore.
Experts expect the stranding will leave a big vacuum in local pilot whale populations. "It’s not just about genetic diversity," Meynecke says. Whales carefully hand-rear their young, teaching them not only how to survive, but also, some scientists think, a kind of culture. Imagine whole generations of our parents vanishing in a single tragedy.
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