Update: This post has been updated to reflect new information about the once-surviving whales.
After nearly 100 pilot whales stranded themselves Tuesday on a beach in Western Australia, volunteers raced to save them as half of the pod had already died.
On Wednesday, officials euthanized the rest of the whales that weren’t dead as of Tuesday.
Nearly 100 long-finned pilot whales stranded themselves on Cheynes Beach after moving progressively closer in a huddle to the Western Australia shoreline near Albany on July 25, ABC News reported. Of the 97 whales that found themselves stranded, 52 have already died, leading volunteers to desperately attempt to save the remaining 45, the outlet stated. (RELATED: 3,000 Pound Whale Washes Up On Florida Beach, Dies Hours Later)
A pod of nearly 100 pilot whales gathered off Australia’s coast before stranding themselves on a nearby beach.
At least 52 have died despite efforts to rescue them. pic.twitter.com/jyTHvwi8NP
— DW News (@dwnews) July 26, 2023
A team of local volunteer and conservation officials Wednesday successfully managed to move the remaining 45 back into the water, herding them back into the sea using boats and kayaks, The New York Times reported. By afternoon, however, the whales had again formed a huddle and began drifting back to shore, restraining themselves, the outlet stated.
“Healthy pilot whales don’t generally behave like this, and when you see it, you think there’s something odd going on,” Kate Sprogis, a marine mammal ecologist at the University of Western Australia, told The New York Times.
“What we’re seeing is utterly heartbreaking and distressing,” Reece Whitby, Western Australia’s environment minister stated, according to ABC News. “It’s just a terrible, terrible tragedy to see these dead pilot whales on the beach.”
The state’s department of conservation stated that veterinarians will continue to assess the re-stranded whales in order to advise “the most appropriate course of action to ensure the most humane outcome for the whales,” according to The New York Times.
After an assessment by veterinarians Wednesday, the last 45 whales were euthanized, a decision described as “incredibly hard.”
“Probably one of the hardest decisions of my 34 years of wildlife management. Really, really difficult,” Peter Hartley, a manager of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions who oversaw the response told the Associated Press Thursday.
Hartley hopes that by taking samples of the whales scientists can learn more about the unusual behavior that led to their beaching. “We’re going to be learning a lot about the behavior. We’re also going to be learning a great deal about the genetics, the make up of that group, were they related?” he told the outlet.