Laverda SF
Hero member
There is not even 1/2 the Wild Life nor Forest remaining in Northern Ontario compared to when I was young !
More than 150 false killer whales stranded on remote beach in Tasmania
- Thread starter Laverda SF
- Start date
There is not even 1/2 the Wild Life nor Forest remaining in Northern Ontario compared to when I was young !
Laverdalothar
Hero member
- Location
- Germany
Very sad, hope they find out what makes them strand especially in that area so often and change the situation.
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
They’re stupid fuckers really …. they get dragged out to deep water and they swim back and sun bake with their mates again 
An axe to the head stops them in their sandy little tracks, and solves the immediate problem, until the next mob of sun bakers have a crack.
An axe to the head stops them in their sandy little tracks, and solves the immediate problem, until the next mob of sun bakers have a crack.
Any comments on women's Soccer Chris?Ducking very fast. On a serious note, I thought when I heard about those Wales I bet it's Tassie again. For some odd reason, I thought it was pretty common to see these mass strandings in Tassie. And what do I discover, it's been 50 years since the last mass stranding in Tassie. Then why do I think it happens every other month? Maybe it has made a big impact 50 years ago on my mind.
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
Women’s soccer? Don’t get me started…..
In fact, I’m with you I thought whales sunbaked on a regular basis, errr, different whales not the same ones over and over
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
You're not imagining it Vince. Whale strandings do happen quite often in Tasmania. Something like 80% of Australia's whale strandings happen in Tasmania, mostly on the west coast. I'd guess there's a mass stranding of pilot whales every few years. I think the last event was in 2022 when 470 pilot whales stranded near Macquarie Harbour, then later that same year another 350 pilot whales met the same fate (2022 was a bad year for pilot whales). I agree with Ron's sentiment. I find it very sad, especially as it seems there's very little we can do about it. Nobody knows why they do it and rescue efforts often fail.
The Feb 2025 stranding was false killer whales which is a much rarer occurrence than pilot whales. The 50 years that was being bandied about refers to the last time false killer whales stranded in Tassie. There's been heaps of pilot whale strandings in the meantime.
Last month's stranding of false killer whales was on the southern end of Arthur Beach, near Sundown Creek, which is a pretty remote spot in Tassie. It's a wild and beautiful part of the world that's pretty much wilderness. There's no infrastructure other than the Temma Road down the coast that passes within about 600m of the stranding spot. Access to the beach is by a few sandy 4WD tracks. There's no towns as such on that part of the coast, just a few shacks and fishing settlements. Arthur River is the biggest settlement but I dunno whether it qualifies as a town because there are no shops, pub or other services. It does at least have electricity, but it's the end of the line for the electrical network. All settlements further south are off-grid.
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Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
An axe to the head is no way to euthanise a stranded whale. They're big animals with solid skulls. You're likely to cause the whale and yourself a whole lot of distress without achieving the desired result. There's a much simpler and more humane method that I've been shown, but I won't go into it here as it's not pleasant subject for conversation.They’re stupid fuckers really …. they get dragged out to deep water and they swim back and sun bake with their mates again
An axe to the head stops them in their sandy little tracks, and solves the immediate problem, until the next mob of sun bakers have a crack.
If you find a pod of stranded whales, notify the authorities. Don't go hacking into them with an axe like a psychopath.
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
It wasn’t meant to be fair dinkum Cam. We’re past clubbing seals and axing whales.
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
Your sense of humour is sometimes a bit too subtle for me Chris, and I don't know if you're being serious or not.
Ian D
Hero member
- Location
- South Australia
Red Neck 
I get accused of that constantly.
I did hear Doctor Carl offer an explanation.
The whales / dolphins come from a deep ocean and when approaching land the sea bed shelving upwards can be quite steep which messes with their sonar.
Guess there is a few theory's out there. I don't really know my self.
I get accused of that constantly.I did hear Doctor Carl offer an explanation.
The whales / dolphins come from a deep ocean and when approaching land the sea bed shelving upwards can be quite steep which messes with their sonar.
Guess there is a few theory's out there. I don't really know my self.
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
Hell yeah.. I leave my Christmas lights on 365 too!Red Neck
Steve G.
Hero member
So,,,,steep sea beds causes climate change??Red Neck
I did hear Doctor Carl offer an explanation.
The whales / dolphins come from a deep ocean and when approaching land the sea bed shelving upwards can be quite steep which messes with their sonar.
Guess there is a few theory's out there. I don't really know my self.
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
I’m going to have to sleep on the steep sea beds theory.
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
My interpretation of that theory is that the gradual shallowing of the water as they approach a beach absorbs sound waves so it doesn't give a return echo for their sonar. Some beaches must have exactly the wrong profile to be detected as shoreline and appear on their sonar map as a gap in the coast. They don't realise it's a dead end.
I assume solid stuff like cliffs and rocks give a good echo return because you never hear of pods of whales running headlong into a cliff. It's only some beaches where they run aground.
Makes me wonder if a series of buoys anchored off the beach that can detect sonar and transmit a return signal would divert the whales onto another course.
Sounds reasonable, It's a shame the National Parks bunch are so busy blocking access to just about everywhere to the public to take that on. That is something a university PHd program would be a great fit for. I guess proving it wouldn't be easy. BTW, I just heard a relative got a job offer to continue his medical research in the USA. It's great timing to be working over there.
Alzero
Hero member
- Location
- Slow traveling
I wish him luck: from what I read medical research there is being drastically curtailed. Both on a governmental level and at the big universities. All is still in flux, but it does not look good, especially for cancer research.
He works on a Genetic condition that first appears in Children, this type of work has crossovers in other conditions and he just got his PhD in it. Did some time during that at Bethesda Naval Hospital. The top man has funding for 4 years but who knows? Not good to cut these programs but who knows what's going to happen next in the USA?
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
I’ve applied for government funding to find an absolute definite reason for whale beachings, expressly the sonar vs drop offs theory. 
Sent them an email after couple of months of nothing, asking what date I could expect the funding…. Got a response from some bitch called Sharon “We’ve got your request to study whales washing up on benches on our radar”
I responded “It’s Sonar beach” No further correspondence since
Sent them an email after couple of months of nothing, asking what date I could expect the funding…. Got a response from some bitch called Sharon “We’ve got your request to study whales washing up on benches on our radar”
I responded “It’s Sonar beach” No further correspondence since
78jotadave
Hero member
There is archeological evidence of whales beaching themselves dating back 40,000 years. For centuries, Seafarers have documented whale beaching events, and multiple people have put forth their theories as to why this occurs; none have been proved.