LONDON: The officials say that stranded whales which died on South Australian beach have become the intention of memento hunters, officials say.
The Marine Wildlife and Rescue Organisation said teeth had been hacked from several carcasses, probably under cover of darkness.
The pod beached on tidal flats at Ardrossan on Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide, early this week.
Marine rescuer Aaron Machado told 891 ABC Adelaide the likely souvenir hunters targeted two of the whales.
“There were six teeth missing from two whales, five from one, one from another,” he said.
“Unfortunately people have taken to it with a hacksaw, they’ve done a whole lot of damage.
“That’s despite everyone’s best efforts to keep people away.”
He said someone did a night check of the beach and spotted people “leaving the area in a hurry”.
Mr Machado said the teeth taken were small and would not be valuable, unlike teeth from some other whales that weighed up to one kilogram each.
A law change several decades ago outlawed such souvenir hunting.
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