Over the weekend, 64 pilot whales were stranded on the northern coast of Tasmania. In general, it is rare to save any whales in a mass stranding such as this one, however, rescuers were able to release 11 of the whales back into the water.
Rescuers aren’t certain why the pilot whales got stranded, but scientist Rosemary Gales offered this theory:
“At Godfrey’s Beach where we are, it is very shallow and sloping. It has an extraordinary tide span and so the whales one minute can be in quite deep water and as soon as the tide changes, they get caught out and they are stranded essentially on sand bars and very shallow sloping beach.”
The scientists attached satellites to the ones who were released and have determined that the whales have regrouped into a small pod, thereby making the rescue a success.