Beached whales in 1817

Australia has had beached whales on the coast before.Too often, but it even goes back to 1817 because we have paintings of them. Was it earthquakes then? Mining?

One example is here.

1. For 40 years, Burakin, 150 kilometres east of Perth in WA, has been Australia's most active earthquake region. A magnitude 5.0 earthquake in September 2001 was followed by 18,000 much smaller earthquakes over the next six months!
2. On 22 June 1788, just five months after the First Fleet landed, Australia's first recorded earthquake occurred near Sydney Cove. Many of the First Settlers mentioned the event in their diaries. Their descriptions help us understand the source and magnitude of the earthquake. One diarist, Blackburn, wrote: "The shock did not last more then 2 seconds. It came from the {south-west} like the wave of the sea, accompanied by a noise like a distant cannon. The trees shook their tops as if a gale of wind was blowing."
3. Another noted that "this shock was distinctly felt on board the ships in the cove and by several people on shore, who supposed it to be the shock of an earthquake."- from 'Sydney Cove 1788', by John Cobley, Angus and Robertson Publishers, 1987.

http://www.ga.gov.au/urban/factsheets/earthquakes_australia.jsp