Almost 500 whales in Tasmania's major stranding
The Australian state of Tasmania has recorded its largest-ever stranding of whales, after even more were found beached during a big rescue effort.
Since Monday, around 470 pilot whales have already been found out stranded on Tasmania's west coast.
A lot of the 200 whales in the newly discovered group seemed to have died, officials said on Tuesday.
They said rescuers were racing to save any animals still alive in shallow waters.
Although 25 whales from the initially group were freed on Tuesday, some had beached themselves again after being earned by the tide, according to officials.
"We're lovely disappointed that the quantity has increased and [there's an rise] in the number of whales which may have died," stated Nik Deka from Tasmania's Section of Primary Industries.
However he said rescuers hoped to escort considerably more whales out to ocean on Wednesday.
A helicopter team spotted the next group on Tuesday about 10km (6.5 miles) from the primary internet site at Macquarie Heads. It is suspected they were the main same pod.
"From the atmosphere, it didn't appear to be a good rescue was needed but we happen to be sending a boat over to do an assessment," Mr Deka said.
At least 90 whales from the initially group have died.
It remains unclear what drew the whales to the shore, but scientists say pilot whales specifically have strong community bonds.
The small whales species is among the most frequent to become beached. They are able to grow up to 7m long and think about to three tonnes.
The Australian Antarctic Division said it had been checking whether the stranding was also Australia's biggest on record.
"I'd say it's likely to be the largest… I cannot think about a stranding that's bigger than that," Prof Peter Harrison, from Southern Cross University's Whale Exploration Group, informed the BBC.
Tasmania's previous biggest stranding was in 1935 with 294 pilot whales. Its previous mass stranding was in 2009 2009 and involved about 200 pilot whales.
