(Image: AFP Photo/South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources)

Seven sperm whales were found dead today on sandy shores north-west of Adelaide, Australia. It is thought to be the first mass beaching of these whales – the biggest living animals with teeth – in South Australia.

The reason for the mass stranding is a mystery. However, speaking to The Advertiser, Deborah Kelly from South Australia’s Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources in Adelaide speculates that the whales could have been feeding too close to shore, or may have followed a sick member of the pod as it called out from its resting spot in shallow water. “There’s nothing substantiated… we’ll probably never know,” she says.

There was a glimmer of good news when environmental officers successfully rescued an eighth whale floundering in shallow water farther down the coast.


But they still have to figure out how to dispose of the seven carcasses, which could explode if they become bloated with gas.

Sperm whales were once hunted intensively for the oil and wax in their head cavities, as well as to source the mysterious ambergris, a valuable intestinal secretion prized by perfumers. Now that whaling is banned almost everywhere in the world, the species is recovering and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Although cetacean strandings are rare in the state of South Australia, the nearby island of Tasmania is one of the world’s beaching hotspots.