約230頭鯨魚擱淺

江蘇 李玉方

約230 頭鯨魚在澳大利亞塔斯馬尼亞州擱淺，直愣愣地躺在沙灘上。救援者不僅得維持鯨魚的生命體征，還得想辦法將它們運回海中。

About 230 whales beached themselves on the western part of the Australian island of Tasmania.At least half were alive and animal officials were working to rescue them.They were also trying to understand why the whales got stuck.

The whales were stuck on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Harbor in the western part of Tasmania.Exactly three years ago, 470 whales became stuck on sand in the same area.That time, about 100 whales were saved but the rest died.

The whales are pilot whales, which weigh between 1,000 and 2,000 kilograms and measure over 6 meters.The International Whaling Commission says pilot whales are the species that most often is beached in large numbers.Some scientists believe it is because they travel in large groups and follow a leader.

Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources said a team from the Marine Conservation Program was heading to the area to help the whales.Linton Kringle is a salmon farmer who helped with the rescue in 2020.He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this year's work would be more difficult.That time, he said, the whales were in the harbor so people could reach them easily on boats.This time, they were outside of the safe area, on a beach,which mean it will be harder to get boats near them.

Olaf Meynecke is a marine scientist at Griffith University in Australia.He said warmer ocean temperatures could be forcing the whales into different areas to look for food.“When they do this, they are not in the best physical condition because they might be starving, so this can lead them to take more risks and maybe go closer to shore,”Meynecke said.

Reading Check

Why did so many whales beach themselves on the shore according to Meynecke?

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