SeaWayBLOG: Whales and dolphins stranded together in Tasmania

Whales and dolphins stranded together in Tasmania

By Guido Trombetta on 9:22 PM Animals, News, Photos

Photographer: JAY TOWN

A huge battle against time has been fought at Narracoopa beach, King Island (a little island between Australia and Tasmania, where 194 pilot whales and 7 bottlenose dolphins beached together in the fourth mass-stranding happened in the Tasmanian area in the last few months. The numbers are not sure but it seems that the huge effort of a great number of volunteers has saved 54 whales and 5 dolphins.
Sadly for about 140 animals there was nothing to do.

Whales and dolphins stranded together in Tasmania

Strandings happen periodically in Tasmania as whales go by during their migration to and from Antarctic waters, but scientists do not know why it happens. It is unusual, however, for whales and dolphins to get stranded together. This and the fact that almost five hundred animals died this year in the beaches of Tasmania, in four mass-stranding (from the huge sperm whales, to the smaller pilot whales and dolphins), are raising many question in the scientific community. Theories include disturbance of echo-location, possibly by interference from sound produced by human activities at sea.

Whales and dolphins stranded together in Tasmania