Monday 2 June 2014

Humpback whale strandings in WA: malnutrition a major factor, vets say

An unprecedented number of mostly young whales have become stranded on the West Australian coast since 2008

Australian Associated Press

theguardian.com, Wednesday 28 May 2014 08.40 BST

Poor nutrition has led to a rise in the number of stranded humpback whales on the West Australian coast, veterinary researchers have said.

A juvenile humpback whale stranded on a beach
 at Windy Harbour, near Pemberton in WA's
 south-west. Photograph: WA Department of
 Environment and Conservation/AAP

Carly Holyoake, from Murdoch University, at the Australian Veterinary Association's annual conference in Perth on Wednesday, said an unprecedented number of mostly young whales had become stranded on the coast since 2008.

Between 1989 and 2007, the average number of humpback whales coming ashore was two or three, she said.

But in 2008, there were 13 strandings, followed by 46 in 2009 and 16 in 2010.

In 2011, there were 17 strandings involving 14 calves and three juveniles, representing a rise in the number of young whales dying compared with previous years.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis