Up to eight whales remain near Fraser Island, Queensland after mother and calf died and there are fears pod may be stranded
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 July 2013 04.20 EDT
Marine experts are contemplating towing the carcass of a killer whale out to sea to encourage members of its pod to move into deeper waters off Queensland‘s coast.
Up to eight whales remain near Fraser Island where two whales, a mother and her calf, died after becoming stranded on Wednesday morning.
Rescuers fear the pod could become stranded again.
A Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services spokesman, Peter Wright, says if the whales don’t move on they’ll look at ways to coax them out to the open ocean.
“The ideal thing to do would be to let them do it themselves,” he told reporters in Hervey Bay on Thursday.
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Qld whale rescue ‘successful’
Thursday, July 04, 2013 » 11:47am
Authorities may herd a pod of killer whales, which remains off Queensland’s Fraser Island, out to open sea as they fear the whales could strand again.
Two of the whales died, reportedly a mother and her calf, around 9am (AEST) on Wednesday.
It was hoped the surviving five would swim out to sea after being freed later that day but they remain in the area.
Sea World’s marine expert Trevor Long says the whales may not have moved on because they’re mourning the loss of the other whales.
‘This is a family unit and the loss of those two whales out of that family unit is extremely strong,’ he told AAP.
‘That’s why they haven’t left straight away but that’s not to say they’re not going to go.’
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