The authorities have launched an extensive rescue operation.
Thursday 25 April at 06:17
The ABC channel writes that local residents have also flocked to the site.
– We know that people want to help, but we ask that you do not try to help without guidance from employees of the authorities, writes the Park and Wildlife Service in Western Australia on Facebook at 03:00 on Thursday night Norwegian time.
Over 20 whales have so far lost their lives, while around 140 others are still stranded.
The whales are stranded at Toby’s Inlet near the tourist towns of Dunsborough and Busselton in Western Australia.
The pilot whale is a large species of dolphin found in cold waters in both the northern and southern hemispheres, according to the Norwegian Polar Institute.
– Pilot whales are one of the whale species most often reported in mass strandings. Strandings can involve only one individual, but most often strand the whole herd, they write on their website.
The biggest similar incident that has happened in the area happened in Dunsborough in 1996, ABC writes. Then 320 pilot whales ran aground, and only 20 survived.
In June 2023, almost 100 pilot whales died after they stranded further south along the coast in western Australia, writes the Western Advocate newspaper.
