Only a few of the amost 500 whales stranded on a coast in Australia can be saved, rescuers said Thursday. They are considering mercy killings of those in most distress.
The whales' condition is so bad authorities said they were likely to carry out mercy killings. "We're actually considering euthanasia...with a small number of animals that we've attempted to release and it hasn't been successful," Tasmania environment department marine biologist Kris Carlyon said according to an Agence France-Presse report.
"That's based purely on animal welfare grounds," he said. "It's always something in the back of our minds - we go to it only when needed."
Hundreds of rescue workers and volunteers have gathered on the beaches near the small coastal town of Strahan in Tasmania to try and save hundreds of stranded pilot whales. However, the latest reports Thursday said about 380 whales had died. Many were stranded on beaches and nearby sand bars.
It is the largest mass stranding recorded in Australia. Rescue efforts began early this week when around 270 whales were discovered marooned.
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service officials said rescue efforts continued. The agency said one of its helicopters had spotted 200 more dead whales fewer than 6 miles from the original beaching site.
"We'll continue to work to free as many of the animals as we can. We'll continue working for as long as there are live animals," agency manager Nic Deka said.
Rescuers have moved at least 30 whales from the Macquarie Harbor sandbars to deeper waters using boats and slings. However, several of those were almost immediately stranded again.
Marine Conservation Program biologists said the mass stranding was the largest in terms of the number involved and also the number of dead. Before this incident, the largest recorded in Australia was in 1996 when around 320 pilot whales were beached near the town of Dunsborough in Western Australia.
Biologists can't explain the cause or why the whales had gathered near the beaches and shallow waters of the sand bars. One theory suggests the pod - which can sometimes be as large as 1,000 - may have followed a leader to the location or unintentionally gathered around an injured member.
Outside of Australia, one of the largest beachings was in New Zealand in 2017. More than 600 pilot whales were stranded on the South Island near the town of Farewell Spit. During that incident, at least 350 whales died.
