Whale & Dolphin suicide pact!

Correspondent:: "Rev Chain Smerker"
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 21:09:08 GMT

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hmmmm, I smell something fishy here.

http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,11540727%255E921,00.html


Our whale tragedy grows
By LUKE SAYER
30nov04
TEAMS of rescuers are desperately trying to prevent more tragedy on
Tasmania's beaches after a second beaching of whales in 24 hours.

At least 107 whales are dead after beachings at both ends of the state.

A pod of 53 pilot whales beached themselves at Maria Island yesterday --
less than a day after 97 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins died on King
Island.

Parks and Wildlife Service district manager Shane Hunniford said 18 of the
whales at Maria Island had died but 22 had been carried back to the water
and every effort was being made to save the 13 which were still alive
onshore.

The rescued whales, including a mother and her calf, were waiting just
offshore, he said.









Experts hope they may learn something from the latest in Tasmania's
unenviable history of whale deaths.

Scientific samples were being taken from the King Island site, as the rescue
effort shifted to the second stranding.

Senior marine biologist with the Department of Primary Industries, Water and
Environment's Nature Conservation Branch, Rosemary Gales, said the two
strandings in such a short period were unusual.

"We did have three sperm whale strandings in three weeks in the late '90s
but we have never had two pilot whales within 24 hours like this," Ms Gales
said.

"We will be looking hard at the sampling and nature of the strandings to see
if they are linked or just coincidental."

Last night fire-fighting pumps were being used to keep beached whales on
Maria Island alive, while rescue efforts continued.

Ms Gales said the rescue of the whales and keeping them at sea were the
priority at this stage.

"Pilot whales don't usually congregate in shallow water and we need to
encourage them away with boats," she said.

"The key is going to be to get them to leave the area because they are still
at risk while they remain in the vicinity."

The whale saga began about 4.30pm on Sunday when a visitor to Sea Elephant
Beach on King Island saw the first stranding.

Parks and Wildlife Service officers and local police began a rescue effort
with volunteers and a whale rescue team was sent to the island.

Six of the group were herded into deeper water but it is not known whether
they left or were among 17 whales found dead yesterday morning.

Nature Conservation Branch members had shifted their efforts from rescue to
research late yesterday morning when news of the Maria Island stranding
reached them.

Mr Hunniford, the Parks and Wildlife Service South-East district ranger,
said the whales were found by a ranger at Darlington Bay on the northern
part of the island.

About 10 Parks and Wildlife staff and 20 volunteers last night were trying
to rescue another 16 whales, with 10 already moved to deeper water.

"The rescue effort will continue into the night," Mr Hunniford said.

An excavator on the island was used to dig trenches on the beach to help
rescuers drag the whales to deeper water. The whales are estimated to weigh
between one and 1.5 tonnes.

On King Island measurements and samples were taken yesterday afternoon to
help scientists learn more about the strandings.

Many of the whales at Sea Elephant Beach are expected to be washed away
overnight, with several floating out to sea with the tide yesterday.

Ms Gales said every whale stranding brought science one step closer to
understanding what remains a baffling phenomenon.

Ms Gales, who is on the frontline of Tasmania's whale rescue efforts, said
with every stranding scientists came a little closer to understanding why
whales beached themselves.

"It is a little more obvious when they strand in what are known as
hot-spots," she said.

The two strandings since Sunday afternoon involve long-finned pilot whales.

But the King Island pod also included bottlenose dolphins, which was not
common, Ms Gales said.

"But it did happen last year at Point Hibbs, so it isn't unheard of," she
said.

Last year about 120 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins were found dead at
Point Hibbs, south of Strahan.

Ms Gales said the chance to compare this week's strandings would depend on
the availability of laboratories and staff.

"We can't forecast these events, so we can't lock in times in the various
labs, so it is a little ad hoc," Ms Gales said.

She said Tasmania had more than its share of whale strandings because it was
one of the globe's whale sanctuaries.

"We have a rather large coastline and we are in a migration pathway for many
species," she said.




Correspondent:: nenslo
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 14:59:27 -0800

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Rev Chain Smerker wrote:
>
> TEAMS of rescuers are desperately trying to prevent more tragedy on
> Tasmania's beaches after a second beaching of whales in 24 hours.

They are SUPPOSED to do that. Leave them alone, dumbasses.