About 230 pilot whales were spotted on shore on Wednesday. Then the natural and environmental authorities stated that about half of them are still alive.

As of Thursday, only 35 of the roughly 230 whales were still alive, said Brendon Clark. He led the work of the authorities on the spot.

– We have about 35 animals still alive on the beach. Our main goal this morning was to rescue and release these animals,” he said.

– Unfortunately, we have a high mortality rate in this stranding incident. This is mainly a result of the open conditions at Ocean Beach, he added, pointing to the breaking waves.

Two years ago last time

Locals have covered the whales with sheets and poured buckets of water over them to keep them alive after they were found.

Two years ago, the nearby Port of Macquarie was hit by Australia’s largest mass-flood. This included nearly 500 pilot whales, and more than 300 of them died, despite several days of persistent efforts to help them get back to sea.

Beaching conditions this week are worse than two years ago, when the whales were in calmer waters, Clark pointed out.

hell sport

In both strandings, the whales enter through a notoriously shallow and dangerous strait known as the Gates of Hell.

Local salmon farmer Linton Kringle helped with the rescue in 2020. He said the whales were in deeper water so you could reach them by boat.

This time they were on the beach. The water there is too shallow and the waves too strong to reach by boat, Kringle said.

Vanessa Pirotta, who researches marine mammals, said it was too early to explain why whales washed ashore this week.