Australia tries to save the last pilot whales stranded in Tasmania

Sydney, Australia, Sep 23 (EFE).- The Australian authorities Friday have been trying to save the last pilot whales on a remote Tasmanian island, after a large number of them were stranded on in recent days, leaving more than 200 of these mammals dead.

A small number of whales got stranded overnight in shallow areas of the area, hours after being dragged offshore, said Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania Incident Controller Brendon Clark.

Unfortunate, one of the beached whales died and another had to be euthanized, Clark said in a statement.

Besides the rescue of the whales stranded again, the authorities said the operation also focuses on three other stranded whales in an inaccessible area of Ocean Beach in Macquarie Harbour, also known to locals as the “Hell’s Gates.”

Some 230 pilot whales were stranded two days ago on this remote Australian coast, of which 200 died and 32 others were moved to deep water on Thursday using cranes and boats, however an unknown number of them returned to the beach.

The priority now was to rescue and release the remaining whales along with any other whales that may be stranded again, before the team begins to focus on transport and disposal operations for some 200 dead whales, said Clark.

The current mass stranding of whales come exactly two years after some 470 pilot whales were stranded in this same place, of which only a hundred could be rescued and taken to the high seas.

Whales often beach on the coasts of southern Australia and New Zealand, but experts are still unable to definitively pinpoint the reasons, although they usually attribute them to diseases, navigational errors, sudden changes in tides, or extreme weather conditions. EFE

wat-nc/sc