The Whales, Tasmania

Whales that beached on our west coast near Strahan, Tasmania, Australia just the other week.

It's sad that so many pilot whales did this and about 44 were returned to sea.  240 whales became stranded on Ocean Beach on our North West Coast.

More that 204 dead whales with a combined weight between 500 and 600 tonnes were tied to a 400-metre long rope and towed out to deep water approximately 40km off the coast of Strahan in the Indian Ocean.

The text and photos was taken from various sources on the internet.

If you find this post distressing please move on as it is sad to see.

To Ocean Beach, Tasmania

From Queenstown where we stayed a few days one of those days we drove to Strahan and Ocean Beach.
It's a long stretch of beach running north of Macquarie Heads and Hells Gates on the West Coast of Tasmania.  It is close to Strahan and parallel to the Strahan Airport runway.  It extends as far north as Trial Harbour and the coast immediately west of Zeehan.

Exposed to the ocean with no landmass at this longitude between it and South America, this beach can be exposed to extreme weather conditions.  In Serious weather it can have large extended lines of breakers, and a swell at the Cape Sorell Waverider Bouy at up to 20+metres.

Whale stranding frequently occurs along this stretch of the West Coast and can be difficult to remedy due to the isolated location and low population numbers to assist in whale rescue.

When I lived in Queenstown for 4 years I often when in school holidays to stay with the local Strahan Policeman and his wife for a holiday.  The Policeman and myself would drive all along Ocean Beach once a week to see if all was well and if anything odd had been washed up by the sea to sand.
When laying in bed at night back in Strahan one could hear the roar of Ocean Beach.

The day my husband visited Ocean Beach it was very pleasant with only a little breeze.

These two photos were taken on the way to Strahan and Ocean Beach.