Around 200 stranded whales die in Australia

A day after 230 whales were found stranded on the wild and remote west coast of Australia's island state of Tasmania, only 35 were still alive on Thursday.Half the pod of pilot whales stranded in Macquarie Harbour were presumed to still be alive on Wednesday, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania said.But pounding surf took a toll overnight, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service manager Brendon Clark said.
Brendon Clark, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Manager said "We're primarily focused this morning on really getting into that rescue operation and getting them released.We are conscious that some of them may re-beach themselves and so we'll be monitoring that. We're also monitoring the harbor at present, because there are reports of some whales within the harbor precinct, but thankfully they still seem to be free swimming, so we don't see any need to address those. Our priority at the moment is those stranded out on the beach."
The whales beached two years to the day after the largest mass-stranding in Australia's history was discovered in the same harbor. About 470 long-finned pilot whales were found on Sept. 21, 2020, stuck on sandbars.After a weeklong effort, 111 of those whales were rescued but the rest died.