Rescuers rush to save hundreds of pilot whales stranded on Tasmanian beach

On Wednesday, a pod of about 230 pilot whales became stranded on Ocean beach, west of Strahan. Some were also stranded on a sand flat inside Macquarie harbour, south of the town. At least 100 of the animals are thought to have died.

The event occurred a day after another mass stranding on King Island, in Bass Strait, where 14 sperm whales died and washed ashore.

The department is being assisted by staff from the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and Tasmania police. Additional personnel, including a vet, were still arriving after dark last night.

The separate stranding earlier this week on King Island, to the north of Tasmania, saw 14 male sperm whales die. A necropsy was carried out and tissue samples sent for analysis.

With colleagues from Petuna Aquaculture, Mountney had been using special blankets to turn the whales over in the hope some could be pulled out to sea.

Prof Karen Stockin, an expert on whale and dolphin strandings at Massey University in New Zealand, confirmed from video and pictures that the species in peril were pilot whales.

Pilot whales are a misnamed large oceanic dolphin and are known as the most susceptible cetacean species to mass strandings.

The species that became stranded in 2020 were long-finned pilot whales that feed on squid and fish and can dive to 1km and hold their breath for 30 minutes.