270 whales stranded in Tasmania, with up to 90 dead

About 270 whales stranded at Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast, at least a third of the whales have died.

According to BBC, Marine biologists said such a mass stranding has not been seen since 2009. It is unknown what drew the pilot whales to the shore. Experts launched a rescue operation after the whales were stranded, but due to the size of the pilot whales and the difficulty of accessing the stranded areas, it is expected that more pilot whales will eventually be dead.

The adult pilot whales are about 7 meters long and weigh up to 3 tons. in 2018, there were about 200 stranded pilot whales in New Zealand.