Whales regroup at sea after stranding

26 Nov 2008, 1:48 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Eleven pilot whales who survived a mass stranding in Tasmania are now 140km out to sea and have regrouped.

Eleven pilot whales who survived a mass stranding in Tasmania are now 140km out to sea and have regrouped.

For the first time, five of the whales were tagged with satellite tracking devices to monitor their progress.

More than 60 whales beached near Stanley on Tasmania's north-west coast on Saturday.

Only 11 survived. They were transported 17km along the Bass Highway and released into deep water.

Five of the 11 - a mix of adult and juvenile males and females - were tagged and randomly released at intervals to see how they would behave.

Dr Rosemary Gales, from the Department of Primary Industries, said the implications of the pilot study were huge.

"When you put animals back in the water, there's always the question of what happens next," Dr Gales said.

"They swim over the horizon, further than we can see, and you always wonder about their prospects. But this has proven we returned these 11 animals to sea and we've resighted them two days later.

"They've regrouped as a pod, which is fantastic because they are related. They are swimming strong, functioning well."

The trackers will fall off in several weeks' time.

"Not only has this told us that they do survive, they do regroup, even though they were released over a period of several hours, but with the trackers continuing to work it will tell us something about the ecology of the whales at sea."

The devices will certainly be used again in whale strandings, she said.

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