About 230 pioneer whales were seen ashore on Wednesday. Then nature and environmental authorities reported that an estimated half of them were alive.
Only 35 of about 230 whales were still alive on Thursday, Brendon Clark said. Leading the work of the authorities immediately.
– We have about 35 animals alive on the beach. Our main goal this morning, he said, is to rescue and release these animals.
– Unfortunately, we have a high death rate in this stranding accident. It’s mainly caused by the exposed conditions at Ocean Beach, he added, referring to the breaking waves.
Wild scene: whales lying along the beach. Photo: AP/NTB
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2 years ago last time
Locals covered the whales with sheets and poured buckets of water on them to keep them alive after they were found.
Rescue Attempts: The locals are trying to keep the animals alive. Photo: AP/NTB
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Two years ago, nearby Port Macquarie experienced the largest mass delinquency in Australia. It included nearly 500 pilot whales, and more than 300 of them died, despite several days of persistent efforts to help them return to sea.
Clark notes that stranding conditions this week are worse than they were two years ago, when the whales were in calmer waters.
Hell sport
On both strands, the whales entered through a shallow and dangerous strait known as the Gate of Hell.
He helped local salmon farmer Linton Kringle during the rescue in 2020. At the time, he says, the whales were in deep water so he could reach them by boat.
This time they are on the beach. Kringle points out that the water there is too shallow and the surf is too strong to reach by boat.
Vanessa Perrotta, who researches marine mammals, says it’s too early to explain why the whales are stranded this week.
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