About marine wildlife strandings
A marine wildlife stranding is any incident in which a sick, injured or dead marine animal is found on land or in waters adjacent to land. Marine animals (including marine reptiles and mammals) strand along the Queensland coastline for a number of reasons, both naturally derived (sicknesses, injuries or natural cause of death) or anthropogenically derived (human causes of injury, illness or death).
In recent years, following extreme weather events such as major floods, increases in strandings of marine mammals and turtles have been observed in some areas. Rapid increases in coastal runoff contribute to erosion, increases in turbidity and silt settlement, reduced salinity and fluctuations in water quality in inshore environments. These impacts can result in diebacks of seagrass pastures and coral assemblages, placing stress of local marine wildlife species reliant on these resources for food and shelter. For example, in marine turtle populations, reductions in foraging habitat can contribute to animals becoming sluggish and having reduced breath-holding capacity, spending more time at the surface and having to travel greater distances in search of food, increasing the likelihood of adverse human interactions (boat strike and fishing related entanglements).
Marine animals in poor health are also less able to fight diseases, strong ocean currents or to escape entanglement in fishing gear.
While it can be heartening to witness stories of successful animal rescues, these cases are often the exception rather than the norm. The reality is the success rate of such rescue attempts is generally quite low.
In the case of severely ill or injured animals, returning them to the water may be inappropriate. A beached whale or dolphin that is too sick to survive will continue to beach themselves.
For your own safety and for the safety of the animal, it is best if you keep your distance, and report the stranding to the department.