Pod of Sperm Whales Stranded on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia

Six whales were seen stranded on the shores about one kilometre south of Ardossan on the Yorke Peninsula. Ardrossan beach is about 150 km northwest of Adelaide. According ABC News, town residents said there was no chance of saving them. Museum and Natural Park officials rushed to the scene on Monday morning to investigate the occurrence.

South Australia Museum senior research scientist Cath Kemper says that the animals appear to be sperm whales. "National Parks, I think, are on their way to go over and at least do some crowd control because people will be coming from far and wide. In all my 30 something years in the museum, we've never had a group of sperm whales come up." she said. The scientist adds that moving the animals back into the water would be ineffective because being out of the water causes damage to their insides.

The Flinder News reported that representatives from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources have gone to the area and have confirmed that the whales are now dead. A coordinator from the SA Whale Centre states that the incident is unusual because sperm whales are seldom seen in South Australian waters. Locals who contacted the centre earlier described the whales to be around 10 metres long. It is likely these are female sperm whales because the males are longer, measuring up to 18 metres.

Authorities are still investigating why these whales are high and dry near the Ardosan beach. A resident who was at the beach on Monday morning said that the whales were not making any noise although she noticed one that was thrashing.

In January 2009, around 50 sperm whales beached themselves along the shores of Perkins Island. Months later, dozens of pilot whales were also washed ashore King Island, also near Tasmania. These mass stranding of whales take place from time to time in Australia and New Zealand. However, explanations for such occurrence have not been completely understood.