12m-long whale dies at Seven Mile Beach

By Michelle Hoctor
Updated November 6 2012 - 1:29am, first published December 27 2010 - 9:16am
The whale on Seven Mile Beach, near Shoalhaven Heads, after failed attempts to rescue it. Picture: ANDY HUTCHISON
The whale on Seven Mile Beach, near Shoalhaven Heads, after failed attempts to rescue it. Picture: ANDY HUTCHISON

An around-the-clock rescue effort was not enough to save a 12m whale that beached itself at Shoalhaven Heads on the weekend.Volunteers of whale rescue organisation ORRCA were hoping the whale would launch itself back into the ocean at high tide early yesterday, but the mammal was too fatigued to save itself and died at 5am."We had ORRCA people monitoring the whale throughout the night. Unfortunately, it didn't make it," said volunteer Shona Lorigan.Passers-by found the 12m-long Bryde's whale on Seven Mile Beach near Shoalhaven Heads village, just before midday on Sunday.ORRCA volunteers and national park rangers spent much of the day keeping the mammal moist and shaded.Ms Lorigan said that as the whale was facing out towards the sea, it was hoped the whale would be able to make its own way out at high tide.It was fortunate the animal was on its stomach and "ready to go", but it was being crushed by its internal organs."The longer they are on land, the harder it is for them," Ms Lorigan said on Sunday.A skeleton crew of ORRCA volunteers remained on watch throughout the night, recording the whale's behavioural patterns and respiration rate."The high tide came through about 1.30am but it wasn't quite big enough to allow the whale to move out to sea."But we really became aware around that time that the whale was starting to weaken, so it probably didn't have enough strength to get off the beach again."So it was very sad for everyone involved. We tried our absolute best."Another Bryde's whale was stranded in early December, at Iluka on the NSW North Coast, but died soon after it was found.

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