Australian pilot whales: Tasmanian authorities rush to rescue hundreds of stray animals

About 270 pilot wheels are stranded in Stran, a small town in Tasmania, an island state off the south coast of Australia. The two are scattered along the shores of the sand dunes and on the shores of the coast, according to the Tasmanian Marine Rescue Program, which is leading the rescue operation.

“Late last night we had a third of the animals already dead,” said wildlife biologist Chris Carlin. In a news conference On Tuesday morning, he added that it was difficult to make a more accurate estimate of the deaths, as the whales had spread over a large area and some places were inaccessible.

“It’s a really challenging event,” he said. “In the case of a large-scale outbreak in Tasmania, this is the most difficult we have ever faced.”

Other potential problems include the sudden onset of movement that is washing away, and the possibility that the distressed whale may attract sharks to the area.

Rescue teams, including about 60 people, include volunteers, police, fish farms and Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Services. Carlyn said that with the clock ticking, they are forced to start cleaning with whales, which have the best chance of success.

First, rescuers are going to try to “turn” the whale into water, “Carlian said – and if that doesn’t work, or if it causes the whale to misbehave, they’ll move on.” Other strategies.

The rescue mission is expected to take several days, raising concerns that the whales may not live that long. But the current weather has kept the whales wet and cold, which is “ideal,” said Carlin – if conditions remain as they are, the whales could survive a few more days.

It is not entirely clear how the costumes had to be washed on the shore, although Carleton added that some other masses were stuck in similar places. Whales may have been pulled after eating near the beach; Or, some whales may have strayed too close to “simple misconduct”, and the rest of the pods after that.

One of the sandbars where the whale pod was washed in Tasmania, Australia.

As rescuers hope to rescue the remaining wheeled vines, they will have to do another serious task – transporting dozens of wheeled corpses from inside the harbor to the sea. Usually when stranding occurs, experts prefer to leave the corpses, Carlyle said – but they can’t do that because the area is too close to human campgrounds and activity sites.

Authorities warned the general public to stay out of the area and reach the shore in boats.

Tasmania is the only state in Australia where the mass stresses of whales and dolphins occur on a regular basis, according to the state. Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment.

According to the department, this mass spread often involves social species that live together in large groups. There are pilot whales, sperm whales and bottlenose dolphin species that are often trapped.

Wales have “very tight family ties” so if one whale is trapped, others can hear its call and follow it, leading to an entire pod beach. According to the department.

CNN’s Jack Guy and Soul Han contributed to this report.