Rescue operations afoot to save 270 whales stranded in Australia

AUSTRALIA: Rescuers and experts were trying to save 270 whales stranded off the coast of the Australian island of Tasmania on Tuesday.

According to reports, the long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars at Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania’s rugged and sparsely populated west coast, on Monday.

Images from the scene showed shallow water thick with the large slick-black mammals manoeuvring for space. Manager of Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, Nic Deka said marine specialists and rescuers were trialling efforts to determine the best rescue techniques to save them.

Nic Deka in told media, “We’ll be trying to free some whales this morning and if we’re met with the techniques we’ve settled on, we’ll keep doing that, if not, we’ll adapt it and do dissimilar things to try and get a better result.”

Kris Carlyon, a wildlife biologist at the Marine Conservation Programme, said mass whale strandings occur relatively often in Tasmania, such a large group has not been seen in the area for more than a decade.

Around 60 people – including volunteers and local fish-farm workers – are battling cold and wet conditions to rescue the whales. The poor weather, however, could help the partially submerged whales survive for the several days the rescue is likely to take, Carlyon added.