Voice of America
23 Sep 2022, 04:36 GMT+10
Australian officials say nearly 200 pilot whales are dead Thursday after stranding themselves on a beach in the island state of Tasmania south of the mainland.
Reports from the scene say rescue teams were still working to save at least 32 other animals that were part of the same group - or pod - of whales that stranded themselves on Tasmania's Ocean Beach Wednesday.
Rescuers release a stranded pilot whale back in the ocean at Macquarie Heads, on the west coast of Tasmania on Sept. 22, 2022. About 200 pilot whales died after stranding themselves on a beach on the rugged west coast of Tasmania.
State wildlife officials say rescue crews worked most of the day to push the animals - which can weigh up to a metric ton - back out to sea. But Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service officials say pounding surf on the beach overnight was too much for many of the stranded animals.
Tasmanian environment department marine biologists Sam Thalman told the French news agency AFP that Ocean Beach and nearby Macquarie Harbor are global hotspots for mass whale strandings.
The same beach - exactly two years ago - was the scene of the largest mass whale stranding in the nation's history, when 470 pilot whales stranded themselves, with rescue teams able to save just more than 100 of them.
Earlier this week, about 14 young sperm whales died on a beach on nearby King Island.
Pilot whales are a large species of dolphin and grow to about 7 meters and can weigh up to three tons. They are social animals, traveling in pods of 10 to 20 animals but those groups can swell in size to hundreds.
The species is prone to mass strandings, and no one knows for sure what causes them. Some scientists believe pilot whales' strong social connections and persistence to remain together in a crisis drive them to follow one another into shallow waters.
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Get a daily dose of Paris Guardian news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Paris Guardian.
More InformationCUSTER STATE PARK, South Dakota: As part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the species, which has ...
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan: Uzbek authorities said a powerful explosion on September 28 at a warehouse near Tashkent's airport killed one person ...
TALLAHASSEE, Florida: The Florida Lottery said this week that the second-largest lottery winner in U.S. history has come forward to ...
LONDON, UK: This week, the Global Financial Centers index showed that New York remains the world's leading financial center, with ...
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan: In a significant milestone for its defense capabilities, Taiwan has unveiled its first domestically developed submarine. Although it ...
HONIARA, Solomon Islands: Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare revealed that he opted out of a Pacific Islands leaders' summit at the ...
SHANGHAI, China: Chinese officials report that 100 million people are traveling daily during the ongoing Golden Week holiday. Three times ...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt announced this week that it would build a $5.2 billion gigafactory in the ...
SACRAMENTO, California: Fast food workers will now receive $20 per hour in California, after the governor signed a fast food ...
BEIJING, China: In a deal worth US$10 billion at list prices this week, state-owned carrier China Eastern Airlines announced that ...
BEIJING, China: This week, China Evergrande Group said its founder and chairman, Hui Ka Yan, is being investigated over suspected ...
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, California: In his opening statement this week in the first U.S. trial over allegations that a car autopilot ...