How to rescue a beached whale?
Forty pilot whales lie stranded on Darlington beach, Tasmania. Andrew Irvine, a marine conservation officer, knows that he must act fast.
Scientists are not sure what causes a whale to beach itself. Some have suggested that it is the result of a disease that upsets the mammal’s internal navigation system. What we do know is that — without intervention — being beached is invariably fatal.
On Darlington beach the huge grey slabs of whale blow and gasp. As people arrive on the scene, eager to help, Irvine co-ordinates the rescue attempt. Someone sets up a hose pump and begins to spray the whales with seawater. Others spread heavy hessian mats over the bodies of the whales and wet them down.
