Uplifting update after hundreds of pilot whales became beached in Western Australia

Wildlife rescuers have rescued more than 200 pilot whales from a mass stranding on a beach in southwestern Western Australia.

But 31 of the whales could not be saved despite rescue efforts by authorities.

The whales beached at Toby’s Inlet, near Dunsborough, about 243km south-west of Perth.

Speaking on ABC, Ian Wiese, chairman of Geographe Marine Research, said it was a good story because similar events of this nature had killed about 100 whales and only about five had been saved.

“In this case, there were over 200 people along the beach here and nearby, and about 31 died, but the rest escaped, which is an amazing story,” he said.

‘There are 31 dead people on the beach here. They are measured and have statistics made by marine biologists, and they are taken to a landfill somewhere.’

Mr Wiese said no one really knew why whales were stranded and that the “world was astonished by these types of events”.

“I don’t think we’re any closer to understanding it,” he said.

When Mr. Wiese first arrived on scene Thursday morning, there were about 160 whales almost out of the water and about 200 people who were with the whales.

“They were trying to comfort them and make sure their heads were out of the water so they could breathe,” he said.

‘After about an hour, those who were still alive suddenly left and went out to sea.

“It is entirely possible that they will decide to return to shore at another beach nearby, that happens often, but we are hopeful that they will not do that.”

It is the third mass stranding Mr. Wiese has attended in southwest Washington.

“Each time there were almost a hundred of the same species that stranded themselves and the results were very poor in those situations,” he said.

On Thursday morning, authorities warned people that there could be increased shark activity in the area. They said it was possible that dead and injured animals could attract sharks close to shore.

Mr Wiese said he had not seen any evidence of sharks but that authorities would therefore try to remove the deceased animals as quickly as possible.

“We have a salmon migration at this time of year and sharks are swallowing the salmon schools, so I think they are pretty well fed at this point,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Parks and Wildlife reported that there were about four pods of whales spread out over 500 meters of the shoreline.

Another 20 whales were in a group about 1.5 km offshore and another group of 110 whales were closer together.

DBCA South West regional wildlife officer Pia Courtis said the dead whales were being removed from the beach and authorities were taking measurements and samples.

“We have ships on the water and spotter planes in the air searching every few hours to see where they are,” she said.

‘So far so good. They are not back on shore yet, but we will continue to keep an eye on them.

“They haven’t been reported coming any closer, so hopefully they’re in deeper water there.”

Ms Courtis said it was important to remove the dead whales from the water to avoid stranding other whales in the water and that they used ships to rescue pilot whales that were in deeper water off the coast. to hold.

“Every whale stranding is different and there are different situations, so it’s hard to say, but we learned some things from Cheynes Beach (Albany),” she said.

“We’ve brought that into play here, but it’s hard to say it’s a different location, but we’ll try to take as many samples as possible to see if anything happens in the population.

‘Obviously when you have large groups of whales you also attract other species such as sharks, so people need to be mindful of other species that are there.

“What we want to do is keep people safe and stabilize our animals quickly, and think about the health and welfare of the animals that are stranded.”

Holly Raudino, DBCA senior research scientist in marine fauna, said there are several reasons why whales might beach themselves and it could be that one member of the group was sick and the others followed suit.

“Sometimes it can be some form of noise pollution, or illness can be a factor, so it’s very varied,” she said.

‘We take a number of samples, with the main priority being to rule out infectious diseases.’

Authorities are collecting morphometric measurements to determine the sex and age of the dead whales and will then conduct post-mortem tests.

“I only saw a few animals, but it appears most are adult females with a few young, but no initial ideas as to what caused the stranding,” she said.

‘There was an anecdotal report that one of the individuals was visibly ill and it is one of the whales still swimming freely.

A Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said they are doing everything they can to respond safely and keep volunteers and staff safe, while also looking after the interests of the whales.

“Our team is assessing the conditions of the whales stranded on the beach,” the spokesperson said.

‘Our teams on the water try to keep the animals together and away from the beach.

“Based on previous strandings involving this whale species, such as last year at Cheynes Beach near Albany, these events typically resulted in stranded animals having to be euthanized as the most humane outcome.

‘We always hope for the best result.’

Earlier, police and authorities asked people to stay away from the rescue effort, while cars lined nearby roads with people wanting to help and see the massive rescue effort underway.

“While we appreciate the strong desire to help, the area has become overcrowded with volunteers who have influence over authorities trying to mobilize a response,” a police spokesperson said.

‘If your vehicle is parked on Caves Road, please consider moving it to access resources.

‘Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.’

A Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said they knew people wanted to help, but asked that people not attempt to save the whales without direction from DBCA staff as this could cause further harm and suffering to the animals and would delay a coordinated rescue effort. can hinder.

‘The top priority in mass whale strandings is always human safety, followed by animal welfare.’

‘We want all employees and volunteers to go home safely.

‘We ask people to follow the instructions of DBCA staff to ensure the highest human safety and animal welfare outcomes are achieved.’