Qld: Volunteers keep whale afloat

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2000
Qld: Volunteers keep whale afloat

By Dale Paget

GOLD COAST, Qld, April 24 AAP - A young pilot whale's chances of surviving a shark
attack 12 days ago are being kept afloat with a round-the-clock vigil by wildlife officers,
lifesavers and staff at Seaworld on the Gold Coast.

The 3.4-metre-long female is recovering from at least 27 shark bites that were most
likely inflicted by cookie cutter sharks before the whale became stranded at Shark Bay,
north of Yamba, on the New South Wales north coast.

Fearing the whale could call others to beach themselves and cause a mass stranding,
NSW Parks and Wildlife Service rangers removed it from the surf and took it to Seaworld
for treatment.

"This species quite commonly mass strands," said Seaworld veterinarian Wendy Blanshard.

The bites are healing but the whale is still suffering from abdominal discomfort and
has developed a stiffening of its tail, caused by inactivity. It also has difficulty staying
upright. Rangers, Seaworld staff and surf lifesaving volunteers are on a 24-hour roster
to keep it afloat in a small pool.

"If she gets herself in a situation where she can't right herself she would drown,"

Blanshard said.

But there are positive signs that the whale will make it.

"Her blood parameters, which were abnormal as a consequence of stranding, have returned
to normal," Blanshard said.

"If we felt that the chances we were heading toward release started to evaporate, then
we would probably, for her sake, call it quits. But at this stage we are still hopeful
that successful release will be the outcome of the exercise."

Pilot whales are not an endangered species but the effort to save the whale's life
is providing valuable experience for wildlife rangers and Seaworld staff.

"What we are getting from this is a lot of practical experience that we can use in
another stranding incident, and the next stranding incident could be something much rarer,"

Blanshard said.

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KEYWORD: WHALE

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