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Australian wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of 14 young sperm whales found on an island off the southeast coast, officials said on Tuesday.
The whales were spotted on Kings Island, part of Tasmania in Bass Strait, between Melbourne and Tasmania’s north coast, on Monday afternoon, the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said in a statement.
On Tuesday, a government marine conservation program team traveled to the island to conduct necropsies on the whales in an attempt to determine their cause of death.
Photos distributed by the department showed the whale lying in shallow water on the island’s rocky shore.
Authorities are planning an aerial survey to determine if there are other whales in the area.
The department said it was not uncommon to see sperm whales in Tasmania and the areas where sperm whales were found on beaches were within their normal range and habitat.
“While no further investigation has been carried out, the whales may be part of the same bachelor – a group of young male sperm whales that came together after leaving the maternal line,” the Department of Environment said.
Meanwhile, surfers and swimmers have been warned to avoid nearby areas in case the dead whales lure sharks into nearby waters.
About 470 long-finned pilot whales were found stranded on a sandbar off Tasmania’s west coast two years ago, in Australia’s largest mass stranding on record.
After a week-long effort, 111 of these whales were rescued, but the rest died.
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