Forty-three long-finned pilot whales have been euthanised after re-beaching themselves on the southern coast of Western Australia despite a colossal two-day rescue effort.
A pod of more than 90 whales became stranded at Cheynes Beach in Albany, 400km south of Perth, on Tuesday and hundreds of volunteers and wildlife experts worked tirelessly to attempt to save them.
Around 50 of the mammals died overnight on Tuesday and rescuers attempted to successfully release the remaining 43 into deeper waters on Wednesday afternoon.
But tragically all surviving whales re-stranded themselves just metres futher along the beach.
Experts made the decision to euthanise all 43 of the whales “to avoid prolonging their suffering”, Western Australia’s Parks and Wildlife Service said in an update.
“Within an hour of beaching, veterinarians had assessed the whales and confirmed they were displaying signs of rapid deterioration,” the government organisation wrote on Facebook.
“Two whales died of natural causes. Our incident management team then determined the most appropriate and humane course of action was to euthanise the 43 remaining whales to avoid prolonging their suffering.”
More than 250 volunteers and 100 staff from the Parks and Wildlife Service, including Perth Zoo staff, were thanked for their work.
Peter Hartley, a manager of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, told local reporters: “Obviously it wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for. The one thing I did observe yesterday was the very best of humanity and the best that humanity could offer.”
He said it was “probably one of the hardest decisions of my 34 years of wildlife management”, adding that the decision to euthanise the pod was “really, really difficult”.
Mr Hartley thanked the 350 people who responded.
“Their efforts were enormous...the conditions were trying, the water was cold.”
It’s unclear why the whales stranded themselves but the international scientist community is attempting to find answers.
A number of samples had been taken to check on the animals’ genetics, including whether or not they were all related, 7 News reports.
Wildlife experts speculated the unusual behaviour could be an indicator of stress or illness.
Pilot whales are highly social animals and maintain complex familial relationships with their pods from birth.
Drone footage released by the state government showed the whales clustering and forming into a heart shape before stranding themselves on the beach.
Mr Hartley said samples would be taken from the whale carcasses for analysis before they are buried at an inland location.
“We’re getting requests from around the world from scientists wanting the video footage of them all huddled together on the Tuesday,” Mr Hartley said.
The incident is similar to last September when 200 pilot whales died after a pod stranded itself on the island state of Tasmania, off Australia’s southeastern coast.
The following month, nearly 500 pilot whales died after stranding themselves on two remote beaches in New Zealand.
