Fauna Journal Entry
Rescuers Save Beached Whales (April 6, 2008)
Rescuers were able to save some of the pilot whales that beached in western Australia. National Marine Mammal Laboratory.
Rescuers towed eleven stranded pilot whales back out to sea after a large pod was stranded along Australia's western coast. A total of about ninety marine mammals beached, including a group of bottlenosed dolphins. The rescuers used trucks and cranes fitted with giant slings to move the whales to a beach about 12 miles (20 km) away, where they were released to the safety of deeper water.
Whale strandings are common in Australia and New Zealand, which the mammals pass while migrating to and from Antarctica. In recent years, hundreds of whales have beached along Australia's western coast. Earlier this month, 200 pilot whales beached on Australia's southern coast. A pod of stranded sperm whales died on a beach in Tasmania earlier this year.
As is often the case when marine mammals are stranded, the cause of the most recent beaching remains a mystery. Some strandings may be linked to the sociable nature of the animals, which often swim in large pods. Sometimes, a pod may chase its prey too close to shore or try to protect sick members. Some strandings have been blamed on parasite infections that harm their sense of direction.
In some cases, strandings have been linked to underwater sonar tests. Sonar sends powerful sound waves pulsing through the ocean that can injure marine mammals' ears, or disorient them.
