Safety issues
Humpback whale © National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The advice for the general public is not to touch any stranded animal: please inform the Museum (see how to report a stranding). If contact with any animal is unavoidable please follow these guidelines for your own safety.
Contact should be kept to a minimum.
Live animals may cause injury through biting or thrashing about. They may also produce contaminated fluids (e.g. from the blow hole). Ideally, expert assistance should be present.
Ensure a high standard of personal hygiene.
Minor breaks in the skin such as small cuts and abrasions, and which do not present any personal physical imposition, should be kept covered with secure waterproof dressing as a foundation prior to any contact. After contact, exposed skin should be washed thoroughly before attending to any personal requirements such as eating and drinking.
Protective clothing should be worn.
Gloves, masks, overalls, waterproof aprons, wellington boots, should be worn as appropriate.
Avoid producing or being in the presence of aerosols or spray contaminated with the animal's body fluids which may be accidentally ingested or inhaled.
All protective clothing should be washed thoroughly after use, if it is to be retained.
Avoid injury
If any injury is incurred during contact or illness occurs following contact, then medical advice should be sought as soon as possible, informing the doctor that contact with a stranded animal has occurred. Cuts and grazes should be washed, disinfected, and dressed.
Additional considerations
Do not become a stranding
Strandings can occur in secluded areas of the coast and the terrain can be very uneven or loose. Checking on the state of the tide and the accessibility or escape from the area when the tide is in, together with the weather forecast for the possible extra effects of a storm, should not be overlooked; neither should the possibility of injury through simply falling over, or the physical demands made on the person in such circumstances.
Disposal of the carcass
Disposal of the carcass should be left to the relevant authorities. This may be the responsibility of the local Council or it may fall to the Receiver of Wrecks and aides. Disposal may involve simple burial or, at the other extreme, incineration after isolation.