Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996
AUSTRALIA: WHALES BEACH THEMSELVES AGAIN ON NSW NORTH COAST

SYDNEY, [AAP] - Six melon-headed whales who beached themselves for a second time on the New South Wales north coast last night have been given a temporary home in a hotel swimming pool. The 10 metre by 15 metre saltwater pool at the Mediterranean Hotel in Crescent Head, east of Kempsey, will be the whales' residence until they are ready for another release attempt -- probably not within the next 24 hours, a National Parks and Wildlife spokesman said today.

Seven of the whales, which are about two metres long, beached themselves at Point Plomer, between Kempsey and Port Macquarie, on Tuesday night (9th). They were released 12 km out to sea from a police launch and a Seaworld craft yesterday afternoon. But six of the whales beached themselves again two kilometres south of Crescent Head at 6pm yesterday, NPWS operations officer Eric Claussen said. He said they were the same whales that had beached earlier, but the seventh whale, a juvenile, had died from stress when it was released.

The whales had to be removed from the beach when NPWS was notified of their return last night.
"They were getting battered around in the surf and we had to get them off the beach before high tide," Mr Claussen said.
"The only appropriate still water was in the saltwater pool at the Mediterranean Hotel in Crescent Head."

They had been transported to the hotel, 5km away, on a NPWS whale trailer and on the trailers of some local professional fishermen, he said. The animals were safely in the pool by about 10pm. "They're in a much better condition than they were when we rescued them," Mr Claussen said. "They're fairly comfortable and stable, their breathing rates are stable and their pulse rates are fairly normal."

Volunteers were rostered around the clock to hold the whales buoyant in the 1.5 metre-deep pool, he said. They were using 28 volunteers an hour. "They're mainly locals -- they've been fantastic," he said. Officers from the NPWS would leave this morning to find a suitable release point for the whales then they would be transported to the area.
"That will be a slow process. It (the release) won't be within the next 24 hours," Mr Claussen said. He said there was no problem with finding food for the animals because creatures of that size could go two to three weeks without food.

The Australian Encyclopaedia says the melon-headed whale, also known as the electra dolphin or small killer whale, had not been recorded in Australian waters until 1959 when a school of 200 was stranded at Crowdy Head, about 65km south of this week's stranding. Most of that group was promptly cut up for fish and lobster bait. They are a very social animal that usually gathers in very large pods, and are found mainly in the tropics and sub-tropics.


Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996
NSW: WHALES HEADED FOR BACK CREEK

SYDNEY, Jan 11 AAP - Six melon-headed whales which spent the morning in a motel swimming pool were tonight moved to a creek at South West Rocks on the state's north coast for rehabilitation, a National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) spokesman said.

The whales were being moved now and would remain in the creek for probably much or all of tomorrow in preparation for efforts to move them out to sea once again, NPWS officer Lawrence Orel said. He said they were all in good condition but would need the time to recuperate so they were strong enough to go back out to sea when the conditions improved.

Big seas today hindered efforts to release them. Although the saltwater pool at the Mediterranean Motel in Crescent Head had been suitable as a temporary sanctuary, it was necessary to return the whales to their natural environment as soon as possible. Mr Orel said earlier today one of the reasons behind the failure of last night's release of the whales could have been the high seas that prevented boats taking the whales as far out to sea as they would have liked.

The six whales beached themselves last night only hours after seven of them had been rescued when they were stranded near Point Plomer, in the same area, on Tuesday night. One of the whales, the youngest, died.
"We'd like the sea to abate a bit before ... we take them out to deep water again," Mr Orel said.
"The pool ... is not really suitable for any long-term sort of rehabilitation," he said.

Blood samples had been taken from the whales during the morning and did not show any variation on tests done before yesterday's release, he said.
"Given the animals have been through an awful lot, they are in reasonable condition," he said. "But the longer they go (before returning to the sea), the more rehabilitation they're likely to need before they're ready to leave."

A NPWS representative said earlier today that once the whales were moved to a safe location in the sea they would be held there for a period of time to acclimatise before they were released. They would probably not be released back out to sea before tomorrow or the weekend.


Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996

The animals were part of a pod of seven that beached themselves at Point Plomer, between Port Macquarie and Kempsey, on Tuesday night. One of them died during a release attempt on Wednesday. The six were then transported yesterday about 50 km north to Back Creek, north of Kempsey, after spending almost 24 hours in a salt water motel swimming pool at Crescent Head. Mr Orel said the release attempt was made today because all the animals seemed in good health and sea conditions were perfect.

The volunteers decided on a beach release rather than from a boat because there was less stress involved for the animals, he said.
"We have to remember the compounding stress of the whole ordeal on the animals. We can only hope that we are doing the right things," he said.
"No further release attempts will be made today or even tomorrow but we will continue to monitor the situation."

The volunteers were performing physiotherapy treatment on the animals at the rehabilitation site to get them strong enough to send back out to sea, Mr Orel said. The physio involved bending the whales' tails to loosen up the muscles, and rotating them onto their sides so they had to use their muscles to roll themselves back to an upright position, he said.
"Their condition has improved given there is a lot more flexibility in the animals today compared to the previous couple of days," Mr Orel said.



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