Latest news with #ShelleyGraham
Dubai Eye
20-02-2025
- Science
- Dubai Eye
Rangers to euthanise 90 dolphins stranded on remote Australian beach
Wildlife rangers will on Wednesday begin shooting 90 dolphins stranded on a remote Australian beach, saying the stressed creatures would be euthanised after attempts to refloat them failed. A pod of 157 dolphins from a poorly understood deep-sea species was found stranded Tuesday evening on an isolated beach in Australia's southern island of Tasmania. Tasmania's environment department said only 90 survived by Wednesday afternoon, growing increasingly "stressed" the longer they were exposed to beaming sun and lashing winds. "Following expert veterinary assessment we have made the decision to euthanise the animals," incident controller Shelley Graham told reporters. "That's likely to be the course of action for all 90." They appeared to be members of a large dolphin species known as false killer whales, officials said, named for the orca-like shape of their skull. Efforts to refloat the dolphins -- which can weigh upwards of one tonne -- had fallen short and were unlikely to succeed, said biologist Kris Carlyon. "This is possibly the trickiest location I've seen in 16 years of doing this in Tasmania. It is extremely remote, extremely difficult to get access. "We've given it a good crack this morning, but we are running out of options for a successful refloat." Dozens of sleek and dark-skinned dolphins were pictured Tuesday wallowing in wet sand as a shallow tide lapped against them. "Euthanasia of an animal this size, it's not a simple exercise," said Carlyon. It is reasonably common for pods of false killer whales to strand themselves on Australia's beaches. But officials said it was the first time in 50 years they had beached in that part of Tasmania. "Often we don't get to the bottom of the ultimate cause," said Carlyon. "They have really strong social bonds. One disoriented individual can drag the rest of them ashore." The dolphins were stranded on a beach near the Arthur River inlet on the west coast of Tasmania, a sparsely populated area known for its windswept coastline. "The moment a whale or dolphin strands, the clock of survival starts ticking," said marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta. "We don't yet understand why whales and dolphins strand. "Tasmania has proven to be a hotspot location for seeing mass strandings like this. Perhaps it's the geographical location -- which makes it difficult to navigate around." False killer whales can reach up to six metres (20 feet) in length and are known as a highly social species that gathers in pods of 50 or more. Big adults can weigh more than one tonne, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The species is often involved in mass strandings that can "wipe out whole schools involving hundreds of animals", according to the Australian Museum. Little is known about false killer whales, according to a government factsheet, and there are no reliable estimates of their population size. The Australian government lists their conservation status as "near threatened".
ARN News Center
20-02-2025
- Science
- ARN News Center
Rangers to euthanise 90 dolphins stranded on remote Australian beach
Wildlife rangers will on Wednesday begin shooting 90 dolphins stranded on a remote Australian beach, saying the stressed creatures would be euthanised after attempts to refloat them failed. A pod of 157 dolphins from a poorly understood deep-sea species was found stranded Tuesday evening on an isolated beach in Australia's southern island of Tasmania. Tasmania's environment department said only 90 survived by Wednesday afternoon, growing increasingly "stressed" the longer they were exposed to beaming sun and lashing winds. "Following expert veterinary assessment we have made the decision to euthanise the animals," incident controller Shelley Graham told reporters. "That's likely to be the course of action for all 90." They appeared to be members of a large dolphin species known as false killer whales, officials said, named for the orca-like shape of their skull. Efforts to refloat the dolphins -- which can weigh upwards of one tonne -- had fallen short and were unlikely to succeed, said biologist Kris Carlyon. "This is possibly the trickiest location I've seen in 16 years of doing this in Tasmania. It is extremely remote, extremely difficult to get access. "We've given it a good crack this morning, but we are running out of options for a successful refloat." Dozens of sleek and dark-skinned dolphins were pictured Tuesday wallowing in wet sand as a shallow tide lapped against them. "Euthanasia of an animal this size, it's not a simple exercise," said Carlyon. It is reasonably common for pods of false killer whales to strand themselves on Australia's beaches. But officials said it was the first time in 50 years they had beached in that part of Tasmania. "Often we don't get to the bottom of the ultimate cause," said Carlyon. "They have really strong social bonds. One disoriented individual can drag the rest of them ashore." The dolphins were stranded on a beach near the Arthur River inlet on the west coast of Tasmania, a sparsely populated area known for its windswept coastline. "The moment a whale or dolphin strands, the clock of survival starts ticking," said marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta. "We don't yet understand why whales and dolphins strand. "Tasmania has proven to be a hotspot location for seeing mass strandings like this. Perhaps it's the geographical location -- which makes it difficult to navigate around." False killer whales can reach up to six metres (20 feet) in length and are known as a highly social species that gathers in pods of 50 or more. Big adults can weigh more than one tonne, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The species is often involved in mass strandings that can "wipe out whole schools involving hundreds of animals", according to the Australian Museum. Little is known about false killer whales, according to a government factsheet, and there are no reliable estimates of their population size. The Australian government lists their conservation status as "near threatened".
Fox News
19-02-2025
- General
- Fox News
Experts give up hope for 157 false killer whales stranded on remote Australian beach
Marine experts have given up hope of rescuing more than 150 false killer whales that stranded on a remote beach on Australia's island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday. Experts including veterinarians were at the scene near the Arthur River on Tasmania's northwestern coast where 157 whales were discovered on an exposed surf beach on Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said. Unfavorable ocean and weather conditions, which prevented the whales from being rescued on Wednesday, were forecast to persist for days, incident controller Shelley Graham said. "We have been out in the water this morning and have relocated and attempted to refloat two whales but didn't have success as the ocean conditions weren't allowing the animals to get past the break. The animals are continuously restranding," Graham said in a statement. Marine biologist Kris Carlyon said the survivors would be euthanized. "The longer these animals are out stranded, the longer they are suffering. All alternative options have been unsuccessful," Carlyon said. The department said there were 136 survivors on Wednesday morning but that assessment was revised down to 90 within a few hours. The inaccessibility of the beach, ocean conditions and challenges to getting specialist equipment to the remote area complicated the response. The young whales weighed as little as 1,100 pounds, while the adults weighed 3.3 tons. Despite their name, false killer whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family. Department liaison officer Brendon Clark said the stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania since 1974. That was a pod of more than 160 whales that landed on a beach near Stanley on the northwest coast. Strandings in Tasmania are usually pilot whales. Clark declined to speculate on why the latest pod might have stranded. Carcasses of dead whales would be examined for clues, he said. A helicopter reconnaissance on Tuesday afternoon determined that there were no other whales within 6 miles of the stranded pod, he said. Some could have been stranded for as long as 48 hours by early Wednesday. Arthur River resident Jocelyn Flint said her son had discovered the stranded whales around midnight while fishing for shark. She said she had gone to the scene in the dark hours of the morning and returned after dawn, but the whales were too big to be refloated. "The water was surging right up and they were thrashing. They're just dying, they've sunk down in the sand," Flint said Wednesday morning. "I think it's too late. "There are little babies. Up one end, there's a lot of big ones. It's sad," she added. In 2022, 230 pilot whales stranded further south on the west coast at Macquarie Harbor. The largest mass stranding in Australian history occurred in the same harbor in 2020 when 470 long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars. Most of the beached whales died on both occasions. The reasons for the beachings are unclear. Reasons could include disorientation caused by loud noises, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
False killer whales stranded in Australia are expected to be euthanized after unsuccessful rescue mission
More than 150 false killer whales have washed up on the coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania, with none of them expected to survive, officials said Wednesday. The 157 whales were found Tuesday afternoon on a remote beach near Arthur River on Tasmania's northwest coast. By Wednesday afternoon, only 90 appeared to still be alive, The Associated Press reported, citing the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. Officials said rescue efforts had been hindered by poor conditions and that similar weather was expected for at least the next two days. 'We have been out in the water this morning and have relocated and attempted to refloat two whales, but didn't have success as the ocean conditions weren't allowing the animals to get past the break,' Incident Controller Shelley Graham said in a department statement. 'The animals are continuously restranding.'The remaining live whales are expected to be euthanized. 'The longer these animals are out stranded, the longer they are suffering,' marine biologist and Deputy Incident Controller Kris Carlyon said in the statement. 'All alternative options have been unsuccessful, euthanizer is always a last resort.' The animals resemble killer whales but are actually large members of the dolphin family. False killer whales can weigh up to 3,000 pounds and generally live in deep offshore waters in tropical and subtropical oceans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric reason for the beaching on Tuesday is unclear. They were the first false killer whales since 1974 to become stranded in Tasmania, where beachings typically involve pilot whales. In 2022, about 200 of 230 pilot whales died after becoming stranded further down Tasmania's west coast in Macquarie Harbor. Macquarie Harbor was also the site of the worst mass stranding in Australian history in 2020, when fewer than 100 pilot whales survived out of 470 that became stuck on can occur for a variety of reasons including navigation errors, sickness, old age, injury, bad weather and hunting too close to shore. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Australia to shoot scores of stranded whales
Australian wildlife rangers are to euthanise 90 dolphins stuck on a remote beach by shooting them, after attempts to refloat them failed. A pod of 157 dolphins, known as false killer whales, was found stranded Tuesday evening on an isolated beach in Tasmania. By Wednesday afternoon, Tasmania's environment department said only 90 dolphins had survived and were growing increasingly 'stressed' because of sun exposure and lashing winds. Shelley Graham, the incident controller, said: 'Following expert veterinary assessment, we have made the decision to euthanise the animals. 'That's likely to be the course of action for all 90.' Efforts to refloat the dolphins had proved unsuccessful because of the remote location, according to Kris Carlyon, a biologist. He said: 'This is possibly the trickiest location I've seen in 16 years of doing this in Tasmania. It is extremely remote, extremely difficult to get access. 'We've given it a good crack this morning, but we are running out of options for a successful refloat.' The dolphins were pictured on Tuesday struggling in wet sand as a shallow tide lapped against them. Mr Carlyon added: 'Euthanasia of an animal this size, it's not a simple exercise.' It is reasonably common for pods of false killer whales to strand themselves on Australia's beaches. But officials said it was the first time in 50 years they had beached in that part of Tasmania. Mr Carlyon said: 'Often we don't get to the bottom of the ultimate cause. 'They have really strong social bonds. One disoriented individual can drag the rest of them ashore.' The dolphins were stranded on a beach near the Arthur River inlet on the west coast of Tasmania, a sparsely populated area known for its windswept coastline. Vanessa Pirotta, a marine scientist, said: 'The moment a whale or dolphin strands, the clock of survival starts ticking. 'We don't yet understand why whales and dolphins strand. 'Tasmania has proven to be a hotspot location for seeing mass strandings like this. Perhaps it's the geographical location – which makes it difficult to navigate around.' False killer whales can reach up to 6m (20ft) in length and are known as a highly social species that gathers in pods of 50 or more. Big adults can weigh more than one ton, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The species is often involved in mass strandings that can 'wipe out whole schools involving hundreds of animals', according to the Australian Museum. Little is known about false killer whales, according to a government factsheet, and there are no reliable estimates of their population size. The Australian government lists their conservation status as 'near threatened'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
