More than 470 whales now stranded off Australia's Tasmanian coast

Sydney

The second pod of 200 pilot whales has been found stranded off the west coast of Australia's Tasmania, bringing the total number to around 470.

Rescuers told reporters Wednesday that the new pod was found in the morning around 7 kilometers south of the original site in Macquarie Harbour, Deutsche press agency (DPA) reported.

Marine Conservation Program biologist Kris Carlyon said it is the biggest number of stranded whales they have ever recorded in Tasmania.

Some 270 whales had become stranded on Monday across three locations in the harbor, which is near the town of Strahan.
Already one-third were dead before the rescue efforts could begin.

On Tuesday, rescuers managed to free 25 whales that were stranded on a sandbar off the Macquarie Heads boat ramp.

Carlyon has described the situation as "confronting," saying that you can hear the whales calling out to each other in distress.

The new pod is likely to be part of the same stranding event, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Services incident controller Nic Deka said.
Pilot whales are a very social species that are prone to mass strandings.

Carlyon said the cause of strandings is often unknown and could come down to "simple misadventure."