Nail 230 whales are stranded on a remote beach in Macquarie Bay, west of Tasmania in Australia, and authorities say about half have died. The situation was reported on Wednesday by local officials.
The incident marks a sharp turn after a dramatic event two years ago when roughly 470 pilot whales washed ashore at the same site. Reports indicate that only around a hundred of those animals survived and were guided back toward the open ocean.
A team from the Tasmanian Department of Natural Resources and Environment is heading to the area to assist with the rescue effort. The team will work alongside other authorities to reach specimens stranded on the sandy stretch of Ocean Beach and to coordinate response activities along the coastline.
In a statement shared with Efe, officials described a long line of whales visible in the ministry’s photographs, believed to be pilot whales, stranded along tens of meters of beach. The image underscores the scale of the event and the challenges faced in accessing the rugged shorelines of the island, where terrain and tides can complicate rescue operations.
“The response to strandings in this region is complex,” the statement noted, highlighting how access to this remote part of the island can slow efforts and require careful planning and collaboration among agencies.
The Macquarie Bay incident followed the death of 14 sperm whales that had also become stranded on a beach on King Island in southern Tasmania, a neighboring area that has seen multiple such events in recent years.
Together with other marine mammals that frequently strand along the southern coasts of Australia and New Zealand, experts continue to study the causes behind these events. While a range of factors is considered, scientists point to diseases, navigational errors, sudden changes in tides, predator interactions, and extreme weather conditions as potential contributors. In many cases, multiple factors may play a role, complicating both prevention and rescue efforts. Attribution often remains uncertain until thorough assessments are completed and shared with the public as part of ongoing marine mammal health monitoring efforts for the region. These investigations are crucial for informing future response strategies and public awareness about the welfare of ocean wildlife. (Attribution: Tasmanian Department of Natural Resources and Environment; Marine Mammal Health Network)”