Three Hundred Or More Pilot Whales Die in Tasmania

In what is Australia's largest mass stranding on record, three hundred eighty long-finned pilot whales have died on Tasmania's west coast. Whales washed up on sand spits in an area known as Macquarie Heads. Rescuers have managed to save fifty whales. The Tasmanian state government said that rescue attempts will continue as long as their are whales alive on the beach, but the focus of efforts will turn to removing the carcasses scattered along the coast.  Rescuers say about thirty more whales can be saved.  As time ashore goes on, the mammals tire and become overheated.

Science does not understand why whales seem to commit suicide by stranding on shore in large groups. It may have something to do with following the pod regardless of the danger involved.  A pod leader in the hunt for fish could become disoriented, leading a group into dangerously shallow water. Their sonar sense apparently has difficulty defining wide beaches that slope gently to land.  Macquarie Heads is a location of previous mass standings.   Globicephala melas [photo] is prone to stranding.  Strong tides have hampered efforts to return stranding animals to deep water.  Reports from the scene say the multi-ton mamals are quite calm and do not resist human efforts to re-float them.  Pilot whales can grow up to 7m (22 ft) long and weigh up to three tons.