A group of swimmers spotted a beached whale and poked around

An apparently beached whale was surrounded by swimmers and repeatedly poked and touched.

Drone video footage showed the large whale swimming in shallow water near Port Beach in Perth, Australia, on Saturday.

Eyewitnesses feared the whale could be sick or injured as it is very unusual for marine mammals to come so close to the beach.

Some people, however, seemed less concerned about the animal’s health: About a dozen people swam up to the whale, swarming around it and poking and touching it repeatedly.

Fortunately, the whale swam to deeper water after spending about an hour in shallow water, local media reported.

But it is very unusual for whales to be seen in such shallow water – and sadly thousands of mammals die on beaches around the world every year after becoming stranded.

According to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Group, live whales often come ashore only because they are old, sick, injured or disoriented.

Dead whales can wash up after dying from natural causes or human intervention, such as suffocation in nets or collisions with boats.

When living or recently dead whales of the same species come ashore in a group, it is usually because they are part of a close-knit social group and the leader group has made a navigational error or is sick or injured and the rest of the group is on its way to the coast and has leadership. .

This usually happens in pilot whales that swim in close family groups.

Some coastal species are more likely to beach whales than others. Shallow, sloping coastlines of soft sediment can confuse the ‘echolocation’ they use to navigate.

This incident took place in Australia, but whales, dolphins and porpoises can also wash up on the British coast. Earlier this year, two whales washed up on Porth Neigwl beach in two days.

Here you will find information about who to contact if you encounter a stranded marine animal.

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