88 whales rescued from Australia's worst mass beaching

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ROD McGUIRK

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Authorities have rescued 88 pilot whales and are attempting to free 20 others that survived Australia’s worst mass stranding, as crews prepare to remove 380 decomposing carcasses from the shallows of Tasmania state, officials said Thursday.

Crews found the 20 whales that are still alive on the fourth day of the rescue operation, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Manager Nic Deka said.

“Whenever we’ve got live animals that have a chance and we have the resources, then we’ll certainly give in a go,” Deka said.

Almost 500 whales were discovered on Monday and Wednesday beached on the shore and sand bars along the remote west coast of the island state near the town of Strahan.



A whale is in the water near Strahan, Australia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Authorities revised up the number of pilot whales rescued from Australia's worst-ever mass stranding from 50 to 70 on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, as the focus shifted to removing 380 carcasses from Tasmania state shallows. (Patrick Gee/Pool Photo via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/4dc449ff9820c7c83f9d4732dad6355e

[Roy Rolling]

1. Tragic

The seas off of Australia lost 380 friends today.

[PatSeg]

2. Yes, very tragic

but 88 were saved. It reminds us that there really are some good decent people left in the world, which right now is reassuring. That must have been an extremely difficult task.

I wonder if global warming somehow had something to do with the whales making a navigational error.

[Bayard]

3. 88 saved out of 500

While I'm glad there were some saved, the situation is incredibly tragic. Especially since they don't know what brought it about.

[StarryNite]

4. .