Whale stranding in Australia: 470 animals now stranded in Tasmania record

The Australian state of Tasmania has recorded the largest whale stranding in history, after more were found stranded during a major rescue effort.

Since Monday, some 470 pilot whales have been discovered stranded off Tasmania’s west coast.

Most of the 200 whales in the newly discovered group appeared to have died, authorities said Wednesday.

They said rescuers were running to save animals still living in shallow water.

Although 25 whales from the first group were released on Tuesday, some had stranded again after being brought in by the tide, according to authorities.

“We are quite disappointed that the number has increased and [there’s an increase] in the number of whales that have died, “said Nik Deka of Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries.

However, he said rescuers had hoped to escort more whales out to sea on Wednesday.

A helicopter team spotted the second group Tuesday about 10 km (6.5 miles) from the first site in Macquarie Heads. It is suspected that they were part of the same herd.

“From the air, it didn’t seem like a rescue was necessary, but we are sending a ship to do an assessment,” Deka said.

At least 90 whales from the first group have died.

It’s unclear what drew the whales to shore, but scientists say that pilot whales in particular have strong social ties.

The small whale species is among the most common to be stranded. They can grow up to 7 meters long and weigh up to three tons.

The Australian Antarctic Division said it was verifying whether the stranding was also the largest on record in Australia.

“I’d say it’s probably the biggest … I can’t think of a bigger stranding than that,” Professor Peter Harrison, from the Southern Cross University Whale Research Group, told the BBC.

Tasmania’s previous largest stranding was in 1935 with 294 pilot whales. Its last mass stranding was in 2009 and involved about 200 pilot whales.

More than 80% of Australian whale strandings take place in Tasmania.