Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Whale and dolphin rescue

Why do whales and dolphins strand?

There have been many instances of whales and dolphins stranding themselves on Australian beaches, either singly or in groups. Dolphins and the smaller toothed whales are the species that most often strand on Australian beaches. Pilot whales and sperm whales are two of the species that have been known to strand in very large numbers. Why whale and dolphin species strand is not fully understood, although there are a number of theories about why strandings occur.

Research into strandings and ongoing initiatives such as the Strandings Database and the Strandings Sampling Protocol (national standards for the collection of biological samples from stranded whales) are being developed to improve scientific knowledge on why whales and dolphins strand.

There may be many different reasons why strandings might occur such as sick or dying whales being washed ashore. In rough seas, whales or dolphins may swim too close to the shore and become stranded. It is also thought that the shape of the beach and coastline may sometimes contribute to strandings.

Report a stranding

State and Territory governments are responsible for conservation and protection of whales in coastal waters (out to the 3 nautical mile limit). This includes responding to strandings and entangled whales. Should you come across an entangled whale or stranded animal please report it to your State Environment Department immediately.

All state conservation departments have Stranding Contingency Plans. Volunteers often attend strandings and assist the local authorities to get many cetaceans back out to sea. You can phone the state and territory stranding hotlines listed below.

Stranding and animal rescue hotlines

The National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings database

Strandings and sightings of whales and dolphins are quite frequent along Australia's coastline. The National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings database is helping us to understand more about strandings. The database records stranding information including species, location, and size of the stranding as well as other data which is helpful to researchers. Search the database

Entanglements and disentanglements

Another issue of concern is that whales and dolphins frequently become entangled in fishing gear, shark control nets and marine debris. Large whales, in particular humpback and southern right whales are prone to entanglement because they frequent inshore areas where the likelihood of encountering shark nets and fishing gear is higher than that for species occurring in deeper offshore waters.

Entanglement can cause serious injury and distress to the animals and may result in the animal dying. Government agencies around the coast coordinate activities to disentangle whales where possible. Disentangling a whale is a very skilful exercise and can also be dangerous. For this reason disentanglement training is essential to ensure government staff have the skills and expertise to perform this extremely important task. The Australian Government runs annual national disentanglement workshops. More about entanglements

Litter and floating rubbish

Floating rubbish such as plastic bags can be very harmful to whales and dolphins. Plastic bags can sometimes be mistaken by certain species for food. Baleen whales (filter feeders) swallow large amounts of water and then use the 'baleen' (fringes within their mouths) to filter out small fish and other food. Some whales have been known to accidentally swallow large amounts of plastic during feeding.

• A gutful of plastic poster
• The plastic bag problem

Marine debris

Another issue of concern is that whales and dolphins frequently become entangled in fishing gear and other marine debris. Every year in the worlds oceans large amounts of fish nets are lost at sea, these can remain afloat endangering wildlife for many years. Sometimes cargo or rigging from ocean going vessels fall overboard whilst at sea, these can pose threats to whales and dolphins such as entanglement or accidental swallowing.

Large whales, in particular humpback and southern right whales are prone to entanglement because they frequent inshore areas where the likelihood of encountering shark nets and fishing gear is higher than that for species occurring in deeper offshore waters. This can cause serious injury and distress to the animals. To further reduce the risk of whale entanglements Australia is working with the commercial fishing industry to ensure that fishing equipment is whale and dolphin friendly. Should you come across an entangled whale or dolphin, please report it to your State Environment Department as soon as possible.