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False Killer Whale Stranding in Tasmania – Why It Happened and What We Can Learn · How To Protect The Ocean

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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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  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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  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.