ゴンドウクジラ、豪州で２３０頭漂着　半数死んだ恐れ

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア・タスマニア州西部の浜辺で２１日、２３０頭ものゴンドウクジラが漂着しているのが見つかった。当局は、このうち生きているのは半数ほどしかいないとしている。（写真は豪タスマニア州のマッコーリーハーバーに漂着した多数のゴンドウクジラ。同州自然資源環境局提供）
　ゴンドウクジラは、大きい個体では６メートル以上に成長する。
　地元住民は、生きているゴンドウクジラを毛布で覆い、その上から水をかけるなどして救命活動を行っている。
　州の自然資源環境当局は、クジラが漂着したのはマッコーリーハーバーの近くで、「半数ほどが生きているようだ」としている。
　当局によると、海洋保全の専門家や救助員が現場に向かっている。生き延びられる可能性が高い個体を海に戻し、死骸については、浜辺にサメが寄って来ないよう沖へえい航する方針だという。
　マッコーリーハーバーでは約２年前にも、同国史上最多となるクジラ約５００頭が打ち上げられた。ボランティアが救助に当たったものの、３００頭以上が死んだ。
　タスマニア州では今回の発表の数時間前にも、州内のキング島に約１０頭の若い雄のマッコウクジラが漂着して死んだと報じられたばかりだった。
　クジラの打ち上げが起こる原因はよく分かっていない。
　一説には、餌を求めて海岸に近づき過ぎることが原因とも言われている。
　また、タスマニア州の海底に見られるような、緩やかな傾斜がある海では、超音波の反響で周囲の状況を把握するクジラの能力が妨げられ、沖にいると誤解しやすくなるという説もある。
　他方、ゴンドウクジラは、浜辺に打ち上げられた仲間を助けようと群れで近づいてくることがある。
　打ち上げられる原因には、老化や病気、けがなどが考えられる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/09/22-13:33）

A pod of 230 pilot whales was found stranded on the rugged west coast of Tasmania Wednesday, with Australian officials saying only half appeared to be alive.
Aerial images showed a devastating scene of dozens of black glossy mammals strewn across a long beach, stuck on the waterline where the frigid southern ocean meets the sand.
Locals covered survivors with blankets and doused them with buckets of water to keep them alive, as other whales nearby tried in vain to twitch free and yet more lay dead.
The whales were stranded near Macquarie Harbour said the state's Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
It appears about half of the animals are alive.
Officials said marine conservation experts and staff with whale rescue gear were en route to the scene.
They will try to refloat animals that are strong enough to survive and likely tow the carcasses out to sea, to avoid attracting sharks to the area.
It is almost two years to the day since Macquarie Harbour was the scene of the country's largest-ever mass stranding, involving almost 500 pilot whales.
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.
- Distress signals -
The cause of mass strandings is still not fully understood.
Scientists have suggested they could be caused by pods going off track after feeding too close to shore.
Pilot whales -- which can grow to more than six metres (20 feet) long -- are highly sociable and can follow podmates who stray into danger.
That sometimes occurs when old, sick or injured animals swim ashore and other pod members follow, trying to respond to the trapped whale's distress signals.
Others believe gently sloping beaches like those found in Tasmania confuse the whales' sonar making them think they are in open waters.
The news came just hours after a dozen young male sperm whales were reported dead in a separate mass stranding on King Island -- between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.
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.
In nearby New Zealand strandings are also common.
There, around 300 animals beach themselves annually, according to official figures and it is not unusual for groups of between 20 and 50 pilot whales to run aground.
But numbers can run into the hundreds when a super pod is involved -- in 2017, there was a mass stranding of almost 700 pilot whales.