Scientists in Tasmania are racing to rescue over 450 stranded pilot whales, of which nearly half are likely to have already died from drowning. The scientists and volunteers are dragging them with a sling to get them off sandbars and guide them back out to the narrow freezing harbour by ship.
25 whales have already been saved so far, but Dr Kris Carlyon, a marine biologist specializing in the study of such strandings, said there is a risk that the freed whales, instead of regrouping, may return and strand themselves again — probably in response to the cry from a member of the pod on the shore.
Mass numbers of whales beaching themselves nearby Australia is not uncommon in history, yet a thorough understanding of the reason why they do so is still lacking.
Photo from cnn.com