Dozens of whales die in Australian mass stranding

Reuters 22 Nov 08;

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Dozens of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding on Australia's island state of Tasmania, state parks and wildlife officials said Saturday.

A wildlife official contacted by Reuters put the number of stranded whales at 64, and said 13 of those were still alive as of around 8pm local time (0900 GMT).

The whales were discovered by a member of the public at Stanley on the island's northwest coast, local parks manager Chris Arthur said in a statement.

An attempt would be made to rescue the surviving animals on Sunday, he said.

"We have equipment and whale rescue trailers coming from around the state," Arthur said.

Mass strandings of whales occur periodically in Australia and New Zealand for reasons that are not entirely understood.

52 whales die in mass stranding in Australia: report
Yahoo News 22 Nov 08;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Fifty-two pilot whales have died after a mass stranding on Tasmania's northwest coast, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Saturday.

Thirteen whales were still alive on Anthony's Beach at Stanley on the island south of the Australian mainland, and wildlife rangers and volunteers were trying to stabilise them, the broadcaster said.

"People are moving water around them, people are stopping them from drying and stopping them from getting sunburnt because their biggest problem is they get overheated," said Parks and Wildlife official Chris Arthur.

"Then we're going to try and move some if we can on to trailers so we can move them in to deeper water."

Pilot whales are members of the dolphin family but are considered by experts to behave more like whales.

A number of theories have been put forward as to why whales strand themselves, but the phenomenon remains a subject of scientific debate.