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More than 50 pilot whales have died and authorities are racing to save dozens more after a mass stranding on a beach in Western Australia.<\/p>\n
The pod was first spotted about 100 metres off the coast at Cheynes Beach on Tuesday, local time, tightly clustered in what witnesses say was an unusual sight. <\/p>\n
Once the whales began beaching themselves on the shore, wildlife authorities launched an emergency response effort in a bid to save them. <\/p>\n
Some 51 whales died overnight on Tuesday, with authorities trying to return the surviving 46 to sea on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Dr Andrew Brownlow, director of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme who recently responded to a similar incident on a Scottish beach, explains why an incident like this may have happened, and why rescuers are now fighting the clock.<\/p>\n
Some of Australia’s worst mass strandings have involved pilot whales – 230 beached themselves on Tasmania’s coast in 2022, and 150 were stranded in Western Australia in 2018.<\/p>\n
Video produced by Jordan Kelly-Linden<\/p>\n<\/div>\n