TASMANIA TRAGEDY
Dear HIW, There was recently a mass whale stranding in Australia. What phenomenon causes this? Could there be any correlation to recent earthquakes in the Asia-Pacific region? Rowan MacDonald
In September, around 230 pilot whales washed up on a beach on the west coast of Tasmania. When they were found, around half were already dead. Pilot whales are so large, growing up to six metres long, that when out of the water their organs can be damaged under their own weight. Scientists aren’t sure what brought so many of them to shore, but they do travel in large pods. Some think they were chasing prey such as squid, which can travel very close to the shore.