マッコウクジラ１４頭、打ち上げられ死ぬ　豪

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア南東部タスマニア州の島で今週、１４頭の若いマッコウクジラが打ち上げられ死んでいるのが発見された。豪野生動物当局が２１日、調査を行った。（写真は豪キング島の海岸に打ち上げられたマッコウクジラ。タスマニア自然資源環境局提供）
　現場はタスマニア州北部沿岸沖のキング島。空からの調査では１４頭以外に打ち上げられたクジラは見つからなかった。
　州自然保護当局の野生生物学者クリス・カーリオン氏は現地紙マーキュリーの取材に、「偶発的な事故」だった可能性が高いと話した。海岸近くで餌を食べていたところ干潮になり打ち上げられたとみられるという。
　カーリオン氏によると、クジラの死骸が発見されたのは１９日で、１８日には打ち上げられていたと思われる。
　タスマニア州西部では２０２０年、豪史上最多となる４７０頭のクジラが打ち上げられた。ボランティアが救助に当たったが、３００頭以上が死んだ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/09/21-13:39）

Australian wildlife investigators were on Wednesday trying to piece together why more than a dozen young male sperm whales died in a mass stranding on a remote beach in the state of Tasmania.
The 14 whales were discovered beached on King Island earlier this week, off Tasmania's north coast.
Biologists and a veterinarian from the state's conservation agency have travelled to the small island to investigate, with an aerial survey finding no other stranded whales.
The young whales' deaths may be a case of misadventure, wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon from the state government conservation agency told the local Mercury newspaper.
The most common reason for stranding events is misadventure, they might have been foraging close to shore, there might have been food and possibly they were caught on a low tide, Carlyon said.
That's the theory at the moment.
He said the whales likely beached themselves on Sunday, before being found dead on Monday.
Mass strandings of whales were infrequent but certainly not unexpected in the region, Carlyon told The Mercury.
In 2020, Tasmania experienced Australia's largest-ever mass stranding when 470 whales became stuck in the state's west.
More than 300 pilot whales died during that stranding, despite the efforts of dozens of volunteers who toiled for days in Tasmania's freezing waters to free them.
The reason for mass whale strandings remains mysterious, but some experts theorised the 2020 pod may have gotten lost after feeding close to the shoreline or by following one or two whales that strayed.