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

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A tragic event occurred on

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February 20th, 2025 in Tasmania,

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where 157 false

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killer whales were stranded

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on Tasmania's

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Northwest coast that concluded

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with the euthanasia of

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the remaining survivors.

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We're gonna talk about

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some of the possibilities

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of what could have happened

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and why a lot of these animals

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ended up dying on this episode

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of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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Let's start the show.

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Hey everybody, welcome

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back to this somber episode

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of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.

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This is the podcast where you find out

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what's happening with the ocean,

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how you can speak up for the ocean and

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what you can do to live for a better

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ocean by taking action.

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Today is not a good day in terms of

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talking about these false

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killer whale strandings.

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You know, this is

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something that happens at sea.

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A lot of the times we don't know why they

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stranded, including this case.

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There are going to be a series of

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necropses on the animals that have died

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to give us some clues of why these

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animals may have stranded.

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But first, let's just talk about what a

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false killer whale is.

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It is a type of large dolphin that

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growing about 6.1 meters up to 20 feet

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long and weighing up to

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1300 kilograms or 3000 pounds.

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They are highly social animals often

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found in large pods, which may contribute

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to some mass stranding events.

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Now, the last event of mass stranding of

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false killer whales

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happened over 74 years ago.

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That's a long time.

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And that is something that

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you have to take into account.

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This doesn't happen with

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these species all the time.

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It does happen to pilot

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whales in the area quite often.

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I usually see that once every couple of

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years, sometimes every year.

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And so this is something that is a

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concern in Tasmania is known to have some

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strandings, but it's been a long time

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since we've seen the strandings of these

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false killer whales.

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So approximately 157 false killer whales

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were found stranded near Arthur River on

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Tasmania's northwest coast.

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And the stranding site is remote and also

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difficult to access

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complicating the rescue effort.

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So what happens when you see a stranding,

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somebody spots the stranding now could be

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part of a stranding network or they could

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have a stranding network set up where

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along the beaches, they may have numbers.

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If you see a stranded whale or a number

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of stranded whales or dolphins or any

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kind of marine

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mammal, please let us know.

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Like I remember in the UK, I did it a

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while ago, the British Marine Divers

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Rescue Association, they would have a

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series of networks

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along the coast of the UK.

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And they would have signs, they would

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have people that would regularly patrol

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the areas as well as they would act if

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there's representatives in certain remote

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areas and somebody finds a stranding,

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then they would go and act and they would

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put in all their protocols.

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Same thing, I assume happens in Tasmania.

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And so when that happens, rescue

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volunteers are basically dispatched to

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that specific area and then they try and

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put the animals back out to sea.

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What happens in a stranding and it's

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never really known why, but a lot of

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times because a lot of marine mammals

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that travel in pods are social, when you

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get one, like say the leading animal or

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the head of the pod or the leader of the

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pod, if they get sick or they lose their

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navigational focus because they're not

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feeling well, they can strand.

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And because they're stranding, the social

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bonds are so close, the rest

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of the pod strands with it.

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And so a lot of the times you'll see a

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number of animals come to shore.

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In this case, it was 157 because maybe

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the leader of the pod was just sick and

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lost its navigational route.

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Sometimes it could be because of noise

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that's happening outside in the ocean,

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outside of a bay or

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wherever they're coming into.

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And so they come in to get out of that

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area of noise or it could

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be like bad water quality.

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It could be that

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there's predators around.

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So they try and get away from it and they

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end up stranding themselves.

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This is never done on purpose.

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And because of their strong social bonds,

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you see others that will follow this

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leader or a section that will follow this

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leader, which makes it

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really, really difficult.

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So that is something that is hard.

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Now where they stranded right in this

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area, Arthur River in Tasmania's

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Northwest coast is remote and it's very

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difficult to get to.

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So that really limits the amount of

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people that can get to the area and that

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can hinder rescue efforts

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to get them back out at sea.

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Now efforts were made to transport and

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release some of the whales, but they were

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unsuccessful as they repeatedly stranded.

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So some of the efforts were like, Hey,

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let's just take them out.

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We have these specific tools.

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You can't lift the animals.

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So you got to use the water to kind of

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float them back out.

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They float them in the deeper water for a

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little bit to see if

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they can actually get out.

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But a lot of them would

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just restran themselves.

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Now, whether they were sick or whether

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they just restranded because the rest of

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their pod was there and they were just

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trying to stay in the

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area and they got brought in.

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Apparently the area was rough.

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Like they had rough seas when they're

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trying to do this rescue further

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complicating the rescue efforts.

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So they would keep restraining.

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And so they had to euthanize a number of

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the animals because

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they just kept restrained.

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They were just going to suffer and they

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were going to end up dying.

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So the decision to euthanize due to the

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deteriorating condition of the whales and

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the impracticality of successful rescue

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authorities decided to euthanize the

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remaining 90 survivors.

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So basically 157 animals died that time.

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The euthanasia process involved trained

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staff using firearms

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with specialist ammunition.

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So it's obviously not just when you put

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your dog down or you put your cat down.

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God forbid you ever have to do that.

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But if you ever do that,

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it's a pretty simple process.

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It's usually an injection of a specific

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chemical that basically kills the dog or

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the pet pretty quickly.

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And it's painless for the animals.

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So this one obviously not painless in a

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way, but it's the best way to do it.

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It may seem brutal, but it's the best way

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to get to the quickest death that they

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have been able to find.

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So this, you know, obviously not

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something that's good, but it happens.

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It's just the way, unfortunately, it goes

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in these situations when you're out on a

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shore that's remote.

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You can't get doctors

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all the time to the area.

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And so this is the

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way they get euthanized.

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Not a fun process, but

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it definitely happens.

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Right.

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So obviously the exact causes remain

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unclear, but obviously factors like

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social bonds and navigational errors are

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being considered because that's what

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happens to a lot of the wildlife.

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The pilot whales around Tasmania and New

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Zealand happens as well.

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And so it happens everywhere really.

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And this is part of the world.

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That's where they tend to happen.

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Some of these stories that we've covered

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in the past, obviously something you

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don't want to see every day or any day,

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because you almost feel like it's a waste

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of some of the healthy ones.

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You would think that if an animal from

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the pod that is sick, I can understand

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them going off on their own, but because

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they have such strong bonds, they just

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tend to follow each other.

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That could be a problem in the future.

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Right.

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So the disposal of the carcasses is

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something I never really

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heard, but the story covered it.

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They have to pay attention to

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environmental and cultural

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sensitivities in the area.

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So they are figuring out

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what's going to happen.

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I don't know exactly how

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they dispose of the carcasses.

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They bring it out to see if there's a

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ceremony for maybe some local indigenous

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groups in that area that have maybe a

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stronger cultural connection to the false

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killer whales or to the pod or in

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general, a lot of the indigenous groups I

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know in Canada, in the US and around the

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world will have certain cultural ties to

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marine mammals and just

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the environment in general.

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So they tend to have

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ceremonies around that.

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So I hope that happens in a way because

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that they can get their proper send off

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and the local indigenous communities can

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do what they do best, right?

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And take care of the ocean, whether it be

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through death or rather be through life.

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And I think that's

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something that's very important.

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And I think it should

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be happened for a while.

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It's only happened, you know, 50 years

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ago to 74 years ago.

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So it's nice that it doesn't happen often

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with this type of animal, but this is

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something that, you know, we

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have to consider happening.

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And the best way to really get over is to

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try and get to rescue efforts quicker.

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Obviously, in this situation, it was

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difficult to get to because

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it was such a remote area.

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The conditions weren't great.

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Sometimes the conditions are better.

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Maybe that'll make it easier to get the

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animals back out at sea.

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But in this case, it just wasn't

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happening because of the rough seas.

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Unfortunately, it was

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just bad, bad luck, I guess.

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Or maybe that's why they came in with

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some of the rougher seas.

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I don't really know if I do find out.

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I'll let you know.

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But that's the story for today.

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It's a quick one.

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It's a sad one.

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We have to cover what happens so that you

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know how these things are dealt with in

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the future and how we

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can maybe make it better.

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Hopefully, we get the right

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conditions for it to happen.

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So I just wanted to let you know of this

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story because you have to

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be aware of these situations.

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And I'd love to hear your comments down

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below what you think of the situation,

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how you can do better.

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If you've ever been part of a stranding

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01:07:57,458 --> 01:07:58,875
network, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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And then, of course, if you want to share

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them with me personally, you can do so at

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DME at How to Protect the Ocean.

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You can leave your comments down below.

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And of course, don't forget to subscribe

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to our YouTube channel.

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Hit that notification bell so you don't

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miss any of the episodes that we post

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Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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And of course, we are on Spotify, Apple

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Podcast, as well as

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your favorite podcast app.

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I want to thank you so much for joining

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me on today's episode of the How to

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Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I am your host, Andrew Lewin from the

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True North Strong and Free.

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Have a great day.

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We'll talk to you next

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time and happy conservation.