| Summary: | More than 450 pilot whales became stranded on the west coast of the island state in Australia. Rescuers estimate that over half of them have already died. transcript Hundreds of Whales Stranded in Australia â??Weâ??ve rescued about 25 at the present time, and escorted them out of the channel and out to sea, and crews are continuing to work. So that number will increase. The boat actually escorts the whale out to the deeper water. So the sling is attached to the boat on the side. So it's a guiding process. It's not a towing process.â? â??Well seeing that it's the pilot while in this case, these animals, unfortunately, are often involved in strandings and have been well documented in Tasmania, and even on the west coast of Australia for some examples. And when you see large numbers like this, it's not surprising â?? theyâ??re very social animals, and they are found in large groups, also known as pods. And unfortunately, in this case, we might have had a misadventure, or some individuals may have navigated in the wrong way, and now theyâ??ve become stuck and stranded.â? DARWIN, Australia â?? They may have taken a wrong turn, chased their prey into shallow waters, or blindly followed a dying matriarch who intended to beach herself. But the pilot whales, more than 450 of them, somehow ended up stranded on a remote beach in Tasmania. More than half of them are likely to have already died. Now, scientists are racing to save the others. â??It is quite confronting,â? Kris Carlyon, a marine biologist with the Tasmanian government, said at a news conference on Tuesday. â??This is such a tricky event, a complex event, that any whale we save we consider a real win,â? he added. â??Weâ??re focusing on having as many survivors as we can.â? Already by Tuesday evening, a day after some of the whales were first seen, the team of scientists, government workers and police officers had saved at least 25 whales by dragging them off... |