Hundreds Of Whales Stranded Off The Tasmania Coast

Hundreds Of Whales Stranded Off The Tasmania Coast

An estimated 270 whales have become stranded from the waters off the coast of Tasmania. Nearly 90 Whales have already died. 25 Whales have been rescued.

The animal researchers say that the reason for the huge number of whales reaching the shore might be a navigational error. The Pilot whale or many pilot whales, use echo-location or biological sonar or use sound to communicate with each other as well as to navigate around the environment.

The rescue team and the authorities are monitoring the situation. There is a huge mass stranding effort to pan out from this stage.

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Rescuers from Australia say that the crew members are well trained and by Tuesday they have saved the life of 25 animals. They are also aiming to escort more back into the sea as soon as possible. The pilot whales were found in shallow waters on the West Coast of the Island on Monday.

Though Whale beachings are common in Australia and New Zealand, this huge number was never seen for over a decade.

Marine biologists hope that the rescue operations will take a few more days but the death risk of the animals are increasing as days pass by.

The last mass Whale beaching was recorded in the Tasmania region was in the year 2009. At that time, the numbers stood at 200.

The present situation at the Tasmania Coast is about 200 of the mammals had washed up on a sandbar near a boat ramp, while 30 others were found several hundred metres away. Another 30 were found further inland along Ocean Beach.

But the biggest challenge poses for the rescuers is that many of the Whales are in relatively inaccessible locations. A team of about 40 trained rescuers began to re-float some of the whales back into the sea waters on Tuesday morning by using special equipment to push the mammals off a sandbar. Pilot whales normally grow up to 7 metres long and weigh up to 3 tonnes.

However, scientists say the reason why do whales beach themselves is often simply unknown. Every year Australia and New Zealand witness different kinds of whales make seasonal migrations in large numbers as close as 1000 mammals.

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