Sperm whale found dead on north-west beach (Australia)

The male whale most likely died at sea before it washed ashore on Anthony’s beach.

December 15^th, 2013. Scientists are hoping to work out how a sperm whale, which washed up on a Tasmanian beach yesterday, died.

Sam Thalmann from the Marine Conservation Program says the male whale most likely died at sea before it washed ashore on Anthony’s beach between Stanley and Smithon.

He says it is quite a common occurrence.

“Sperm whales do regularly mass strand but because within their social dynamics the reproductive males are often solitary, it seems that at this case there’s not an issue of a mass stranding and we only have the single male to deal with,” he said.

Mr Thalmann says it will be very useful scientifically to try and determine how it died.

“We will take a number of measurements, we’ll take some samples and determine the overall health of the animal, we’ll investigate any diseases or toxins we’ll look at the stomach contents of the whale and see what it has been feeding on.”

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