A RARE whale that beached itself on Leighton Beach this week with a large gash in its side had onlookers worried it was a victim of the Barnett government’s shark drum lines.
But whale expert Simon Allen from Murdoch University says it’s unlikely the Grey’s beaked whale had been snagged on the hooks, and it was more likely to have been attacked by another whale or a shark.
While he couldn’t completely rule out the drum lines, Mr Allen says Grey’s rarely come close to shore so the injury was most likely caused in deep water.
“They’re social animals, so the males often attack each other and leave gashes because they’ve got two long teeth that poke out the side,” he told the Herald.
It was also possible the injury was caused by a shark. Beaked whales are often attacked by small cookie cutter sharks, which latch on and then wriggle around to take a chunk out of their side. The distinctive shape of their jaw leaves a cookie cutter shape. Mr Allen says some whales end up covered in gruesome hickeys.
Local swimmer Daniel Lawrence was one of the first to see the whale when it beached itself on Tuesday.
He said it was clearly in distress and as it thrashed to pull itself off the sand more blood seeped out of a half-metre gash along its side.
The mammal eventually heaved itself back into the water to cruise slowly up and down Leighton, with Mr Lawrence chasing it in his flippers and goggles. After a close look, he felt the gash wasn’t as severe as he’d first thought (drum lines also crossed his mind) but on Thursday the animal reportedly gave up and beached itself again (at the time of going to press it was still alive, but struggling).
Oddly enough, it was the missing Malaysian airliner that was on people’s minds that day.
“It’s the sort of injury that could have been caused by a drum line, but for all we know it was the wing of the Malaysian airliner,” said onlooker Roland Davidson.
A couple of German tourists walking past asked the Herald what was in the water. After being told, they seemed less interested: “so it’s not something from that Malaysian plane, then,” one said.
by STEVE GRANT