Nearly 150 short-finned pilot whales have died after becoming stranded on a West Australian beach, with authorities warning their carcasses could bring sharks to the area.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just seven whales remained alive less than 12 hours after the mammals were spotted at Hamelin Bay on the state's southwest coast on Friday morning by a commercial fisherman.
The surviving whales were later placed in shallow water but it was difficult to move them further out as they were surrounding by the dead whales, and because of the beach's rocky terrain and rough seas.
""The conditions are challenging but we are doing all we can to give these animals the best chance of survival without risking the safety of staff and volunteers," Parks and Wildlife Service Incident Controller Jeremy Chick said in a statement late on Friday afternoon.
Boats would be used to get them out into deeper water and the team would monitor the whales to make sure they did not restrand themselves.
The beach remained closed between the Hamelin Caravan Park to North Point after a shark alert was issued for the area.
Parks and Wildlife Service officers were working to remove the carcasses, taking DNA samples to collect clues about why whales strand.
WA's largest mass stranding involved 320 long-finned pilot whales at Dunsborough in 1996.
Nine short-finned pilot whales were found dead at Albany's Ledge Point in November 1984, while 38 became stranded in April 1991 at Sandy Point, north of Broome.
SHORT-FINNED PILOT WHALES ARE:
* Closely related to long-finned pilot whales but have shorter flippers with less of an elbow
* Brownish-grey to black, with a pinkish-grey anchor shape on the undersides
* Have a bulbous forehead but the flippers are less than 18 per cent of the body length
* About 4m long for females and 5.5m for males
* Inhabitants of tropical and sub-tropical waters
PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO ASSIST BEACHED WHALES SHOULD NOT:
* Stand close to the tail or head
* Push or pull on the flipper, flukes or head, or cover the blowhole
* Try to push the whale back out to sea
* Apply sunscreen to the whale's skin even if it appears burnt
PEOPLE SHOULD:
* Avoid making noise
* Keep the whale's skin moist with buckets of water
* Follow the instructions of wildlife officers
Australian Associated Press
