Rescuers raced against the tide Wednesday to free whales beached off the Australian coast, with more than half the estimated 470 mammals in the country’s biggest stranding on record already believed dead. The pod of long-finned pilot whales was first spotted on a wide sandbank during an aerial reconnaissance of remote and rugged Macquarie Harbor in Tasmania state Monday, launching a difficult rescue operation. Around 25 whales were freed Tuesday, but officials said some had beached themselves again when they were brought back in by the tide, creating an exhausting loop for rescuers in freezing waters.

Australia records 470 stranded whales in ongoing rescue. (2020, September 24). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. B4.