Mystery over deaths of whales and dolphins

MORE than 100 whales and 10 dolphins have been found dead on a remote beach on Tasmania’s west coast.

David Pemberton, curator at the Tasmanian Museum, said 110 long-finned pilot whales and 10 bottle-nosed dolphins were found dead at Point Hibbs, south of the fishing town of Strahan.

Pemberton, who was among scientists who flew over the remote spot in a helicopter, said the marine mammals had probably been dead for several days. Tasmania’s Environment Minister Bryan Green said: “This type of event is always the cause of much sadness.”

Scientists are baffled as to why whales become stranded.

“When it’s a mixed stranding like this, you start to get suspicious about external factors,” Pemberton said.

He suggested the whales and dolphins may have been involved in a “frenetic feeding frenzy” that ventured too close to shore. Alternatively, they may have been driven in by another species, such as killer whales.

“I understand a similar event in New Zealand occurred only a week ago,” Green said, referring to 12 giant sperm whales who washed up on beaches near Auckland. Scientists have long puzzled over why whales, and particularly pilot whales, beach themselves in large groups.

Some experts suggest pilot whales are particularly susceptible to mass beachings because the live in herds and if one animal gets stranded, the others may simply follow or get caught trying to help.