Beached whales Tasmania: Heartbreaking scenes as dozens of pilot whales become stranded in Tasmania
Dozens of whales have been found dead on a Tasmanian beach.
Nature guide Chris Theobald traveled by boat to Bryans Beach, 140km northeast of Hobart, where he found 34 dead pilot whales on Wednesday morning.
‘It was quite heartbreaking. The fact that there were so many of this species right in front of me… was quite confronting,” Mr Theobald said told ABC.
He was traveling with his colleague Rob Pennicott, but the pair were unable to save the group, including calves, by the time Mr Pennicott’s son found them.
Mr Pennicott’s son Noah first spotted one of the carcasses floating in the water on Tuesday, prompting the trio to go out to see if there were any more.
Nature guide Chris Theobald was traveling with his colleague Rob Pennicott, whose son Noah initially spotted the 34 dead pilot whales, ranging in age from calf to adult
More than twenty dead whales were found on Bryans Beach, 140 kilometers northeast of Hobart in Tasmania, on Wednesday morning.
They reported the gruesome discovery to Marine and Safety Tasmania as they posed a hazard to passing boats.
‘For me it’s very sad. I love dolphins, whales and seals,” Mr Pennicott said.
Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment sent staff, including a veterinarian, to the southern tip of the Freycinet Peninsula ‘to assess the situation and sample and measure carcasses’.
“It is not known why the whales are stranded and it is often impossible to determine,” says a spokesperson.
Pilot whales are known to beach themselves and last September more than 200 were washed up near Macquarie Harbor on Tasmania’s west coast.
Two years earlier, another 400 were found in the same area in a separate case almost to the day.
Mr Theobald said he documents cases like this to raise awareness and highlight their “devastating” scale.
The environmentalist isn’t sure what’s causing the whales to beach themselves, but fears some form of human activity could be the cause.
Beachgoers have been warned not to approach any whales they find washed ashore, but instead to report them to the whale hotline on 0427 WHALES.
The ‘devastating’ phenomenon is not uncommon and more than 600 dead pilot whales have been found stranded along Tasmania’s west coast in five years.