80 Whales Dead Along Tasmania Costline

80 whales were stranded along an Australian Coastline and were battered to death by rocks before rescuers could save them. The long-finned pilot whales were spotted by air and officials of Tasmania State Park rushed to Sandy Cape on four-wheelers to try and rescue the whales. But by the time the ground crew arrived all were dead.

The coastline is full of reefs and jagged rocks, making it much more dangerous for the stranded whales. About 15 whales that seemed to be part of the same group began swimming away from the area after the last of the stranded whales died. The second group swam near those stranded and may have been responding to cries of distress.

The incident comes one week after rescuers saved 11 pilot whales among more than 60 stranded on a beach in northwestern Tasmania. Standings are not at all uncommon in Tasmania, where the whales pass by on their migration to and from the Antarctic waters. It is not known why whales get stranded.