After almost 5 months of monitoring, scientists say whales refloated from a mass stranding on Tasmania’s West Coast are not only successfully surviving, but thriving.
The stranding in September 2022 saw 230 pilot whales wash up on Strahan’s Ocean Beach, causing a massive rescue effort by local agencies and the community.
Out of the whales refloated, five were tagged with tracking devices before release into deeper waters.
According to Dr Kris Carlyon, a wildlife biologist, two of the five whales exhibited normal and healthy whale behaviors, traveling over 300 km south and surviving for 17 and 21 days respectively.
The tracks of both whales showed rapid travel away from the stranding location followed by slower movement consistent with typical foraging behavior.
However, the three other tagged whales re-beached themselves and did not survive.
Carlyon says the data gathered from the two surviving whales is valuable in validating the refloating methods used and the effort put into rescuing stranded whales.
Analysis of the tracking information continues, and the Marine Conservation Program aims to use more tracking devices in future stranding events to improve response procedures.
