False Killer Whale Stranding in Tasmania – Why It Happened and What We Can Learn

1:00:00 A tragic event occurred on February 20th, 2025 in Tasmania, where 157 false killer whales were stranded on Tasmania's Northwest coast that concluded with the euthanasia of the remaining survivors. We're gonna talk about some of the possibilities of what could have happened and why a lot of these animals ended up dying on this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. Let's start the show. Hey everybody, welcome back to this somber episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lewin. This is the podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean and what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action. Today is not a good day in terms of talking about these false killer whale strandings. You know, this is something that happens at sea.

1:00:41 A lot of the times we don't know why they stranded, including this case. There are going to be a series of necropses on the animals that have died to give us some clues of why these animals may have stranded. But first, let's just talk about what a false killer whale is. It is a type of large dolphin that growing about 6.1 meters up to 20 feet long and weighing up to 1300 kilograms or 3000 pounds. They are highly social animals often found in large pods, which may contribute to some mass stranding events. Now, the last event of mass stranding of false killer whales happened over 74 years ago. That's a long time. And that is something that you have to take into account.

1:01:22 This doesn't happen with these species all the time. It does happen to pilot whales in the area quite often. I usually see that once every couple of years, sometimes every year. And so this is something that is a concern in Tasmania is known to have some strandings, but it's been a long time since we've seen the strandings of these false killer whales. So approximately 157 false killer whales were found stranded near Arthur River on Tasmania's northwest coast. And the stranding site is remote and also difficult to access complicating the rescue effort. So what happens when you see a stranding, somebody spots the stranding now could be part of a stranding network or they could have a stranding network set up where along the beaches, they may have numbers. If you see a stranded whale or a number of stranded whales or dolphins or any kind of marine mammal, please let us know.

1:02:04 Like I remember in the UK, I did it a while ago, the British Marine Divers Rescue Association, they would have a series of networks along the coast of the UK. And they would have signs, they would have people that would regularly patrol the areas as well as they would act if there's representatives in certain remote areas and somebody finds a stranding, then they would go and act and they would put in all their protocols. Same thing, I assume happens in Tasmania. And so when that happens, rescue volunteers are basically dispatched to that specific area and then they try and put the animals back out to sea. What happens in a stranding and it's never really known why, but a lot of times because a lot of marine mammals that travel in pods are social, when you get one, like say the leading animal or the head of the pod or the leader of the pod, if they get sick or they lose their navigational focus because they're not feeling well, they can strand.

1:02:56 And because they're stranding, the social bonds are so close, the rest of the pod strands with it. And so a lot of the times you'll see a number of animals come to shore. In this case, it was 157 because maybe the leader of the pod was just sick and lost its navigational route. Sometimes it could be because of noise that's happening outside in the ocean, outside of a bay or wherever they're coming into. And so they come in to get out of that area of noise or it could be like bad water quality. It could be that there's predators around. So they try and get away from it and they end up stranding themselves. This is never done on purpose. And because of their strong social bonds, you see others that will follow this leader or a section that will follow this leader, which makes it really, really difficult.

1:03:38 So that is something that is hard. Now where they stranded right in this area, Arthur River in Tasmania's Northwest coast is remote and it's very difficult to get to. So that really limits the amount of people that can get to the area and that can hinder rescue efforts to get them back out at sea. Now efforts were made to transport and release some of the whales, but they were unsuccessful as they repeatedly stranded. So some of the efforts were like, Hey, let's just take them out. We have these specific tools. You can't lift the animals. So you got to use the water to kind of float them back out. They float them in the deeper water for a little bit to see if they can actually get out. But a lot of them would just restran themselves. Now, whether they were sick or whether they just restranded because the rest of their pod was there and they were just trying to stay in the area and they got brought in.

1:04:21 Apparently the area was rough. Like they had rough seas when they're trying to do this rescue further complicating the rescue efforts. So they would keep restraining. And so they had to euthanize a number of the animals because they just kept restrained. They were just going to suffer and they were going to end up dying. So the decision to euthanize due to the deteriorating condition of the whales and the impracticality of successful rescue authorities decided to euthanize the remaining 90 survivors. So basically 157 animals died that time. The euthanasia process involved trained staff using firearms with specialist ammunition. So it's obviously not just when you put your dog down or you put your cat down. God forbid you ever have to do that. But if you ever do that, it's a pretty simple process.

1:05:03 It's usually an injection of a specific chemical that basically kills the dog or the pet pretty quickly. And it's painless for the animals. So this one obviously not painless in a way, but it's the best way to do it. It may seem brutal, but it's the best way to get to the quickest death that they have been able to find. So this, you know, obviously not something that's good, but it happens. It's just the way, unfortunately, it goes in these situations when you're out on a shore that's remote. You can't get doctors all the time to the area. And so this is the way they get euthanized. Not a fun process, but it definitely happens. Right. So obviously the exact causes remain unclear, but obviously factors like social bonds and navigational errors are being considered because that's what happens to a lot of the wildlife.

1:05:44 The pilot whales around Tasmania and New Zealand happens as well. And so it happens everywhere really. And this is part of the world. That's where they tend to happen. Some of these stories that we've covered in the past, obviously something you don't want to see every day or any day, because you almost feel like it's a waste of some of the healthy ones. You would think that if an animal from the pod that is sick, I can understand them going off on their own, but because they have such strong bonds, they just tend to follow each other. That could be a problem in the future. Right. So the disposal of the carcasses is something I never really heard, but the story covered it. They have to pay attention to environmental and cultural sensitivities in the area. So they are figuring out what's going to happen. I don't know exactly how they dispose of the carcasses. They bring it out to see if there's a ceremony for maybe some local indigenous groups in that area that have maybe a stronger cultural connection to the false killer whales or to the pod or in general, a lot of the indigenous groups I know in Canada, in the US and around the world will have certain cultural ties to marine mammals and just the environment in general.

1:06:43 So they tend to have ceremonies around that. So I hope that happens in a way because that they can get their proper send off and the local indigenous communities can do what they do best, right? And take care of the ocean, whether it be through death or rather be through life. And I think that's something that's very important. And I think it should be happened for a while. It's only happened, you know, 50 years ago to 74 years ago. So it's nice that it doesn't happen often with this type of animal, but this is something that, you know, we have to consider happening. And the best way to really get over is to try and get to rescue efforts quicker. Obviously, in this situation, it was difficult to get to because it was such a remote area. The conditions weren't great. Sometimes the conditions are better. Maybe that'll make it easier to get the animals back out at sea.

1:07:24 But in this case, it just wasn't happening because of the rough seas. Unfortunately, it was just bad, bad luck, I guess. Or maybe that's why they came in with some of the rougher seas. I don't really know if I do find out. I'll let you know. But that's the story for today. It's a quick one. It's a sad one. We have to cover what happens so that you know how these things are dealt with in the future and how we can maybe make it better. Hopefully, we get the right conditions for it to happen. So I just wanted to let you know of this story because you have to be aware of these situations. And I'd love to hear your comments down below what you think of the situation, how you can do better. If you've ever been part of a stranding network, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And then, of course, if you want to share them with me personally, you can do so at DME at How to Protect the Ocean. You can leave your comments down below.

1:08:05 And of course, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Hit that notification bell so you don't miss any of the episodes that we post Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And of course, we are on Spotify, Apple Podcast, as well as your favorite podcast app. I want to thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I am your host, Andrew Lewin from the True North Strong and Free. Have a great day. We'll talk to you next time and happy conservation.