The latest: Rescue efforts continued in the island state, located off the southwest coast of mainland Australia, Thursday afternoon local time.
The main focus was on rescuing and releasing the 35 surviving animals, Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service told the AP.
The big picture: The whales were found at Ocean Beach in Macquarie Harbour, which has a dangerous entrance known as Hell’s Gate.
This is the second mass stranding of whales in two days, after 14 dead whales washed up on the beach earlier this week, according to the AP.
What they say: “Marine conservation experts from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment are responding,” Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service said when the whales were first found. Whales beach in Australia along the west coast of Tasmania on September 21. Photo: Huon Aquaculture/Getty Images Flashback: Tasmania’s largest mass stranding of whales occurred exactly two years ago, when about 470 long-finned pilot whales ran aground on sandbars in a harbor. About 111 whales were rescued, but the rest died. Rescuers try to save a whale in Macquarie Harbor on September 25, 2020. Photo: Mell Chun/AFP via Getty Images Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that most of the stranded whales died and to provide more details about the rescue efforts.
