At least 160 pilot whales have stranded on the Australian beach

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Marine biologists rushed to save more than a hundred pilot whales on Thursday after a mass stranding on an Australian beach. Officials feared many would have to be euthanized..

Western Australia’s Parks and Wildlife Service said 26 of the stranded pilot whales had already died.

As many as 160 pilot whales stranded at Toby’s Inlet Thursday morning, officials said at about three locations. o’clock’ drive south of the capital Perth.

“A team of experienced staff including conservationists, marine scientists and… veterinarians are on site or en route,” the Parks and Wildlife Service said in a statement.

Conservationists will try to guide some pilot whales away from the beach and into deeper water.

But the agency said that “these events usually result in the need to strand the stranded animals euthanized as the most humane outcome”.

“We always hope for the best outcome,” the wildlife agency added.

Mass strandings of pilot whales are not uncommon in Australia and New Zealand.

About 500 pilot whales died when they became stranded on New Zealand’s remote Chatham Islands in 2022.

Scientists don’t fully understand why mass strandings occur, but some researchers think the pods veer off course after breeding too close to shore.

Pilot whales – which can grow to more than six meters (6 meters) long – are highly social, so they can track podmates who wander into danger.