Rescue operation launches to save stranded whales in Australia

September 22, 2022

230 whales stuck on sandbars in southern island state of Tasmania

By The South Asia Times

CANBERRA - Australian authorities on Thursday said that 35 whales are still alive after a day to found 230 whales stranded in the southern island state of Tasmania.

On Wednesday, local authorities found 230 whales stranded on Ocean Beach, with some reported stranded on a sand flat inside Macquarie Harbour, Marine Conservation Program of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania said in a statement.

"[MCP team] are working alongside staff from the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and Tasmanian Police at Strahan, and local aquaculture companies to rescue and release about 35 surviving whales at Macquarie Harbour following the stranding of about 230 whales yesterday," said in the statement.

The authorities also closed Ocean Beach Road and Macquarie Heads Road to allow the rescue teams to do their work safely.

Earlier, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service manager Brendon Clark said that five whales died overnight.

"We are primarily focused this morning on really getting into that rescue operation and getting them [the whales] released," ABC News quoted Clark as saying.

In 2020, over 350 whales dead in Tasmania when hundreds were stuck on sandbars in the west coast while 110 whales were rescued after weeklong efforts.