Whales die in mass beaching

HOBART, Australia, March 2 (UPI) -- Rescue personnel said Monday more than 140 pilot whales died after beaching themselves on King Island, northwest of Tasmania.

"It's pretty darn sad, you can hear them crying," John Nievaart, one of an estimated 200 rescuers trying to keep the whales hydrated with wet bedspreads, blankets and towels, told The Australian.

The dead whales were part of a pod of nearly 200 pilot whales and several bottlenose dolphins that came ashore Sunday on Naracoopa Beach, The Australian reported Monday.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported volunteers, aided by a personal water craft and a boat, had helped return 54 whales and five dolphins to sea during high tide. However, one off the freed whales later returned to shore, the network said.

The whales were tagged before being returned to the water and will be tracked electronically.

Rosemary Gales of the Department of Primary Industry and Water said shallow water and the slope of the ground below can cause whales to become disoriented.

"With the toothed whales that are happy to come close to shore, it's these really shallow sloping beaches where they almost always get caught at low tide," she said. "So they come in and feed and then the tide goes out and they get trapped."

Shelley Davison of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service told the ABC it remained to be seen whether the rescued whales would stay out at sea.

"It's too early to say yet but it's been a very, very positive day," Davison said.

King Island Council General Manager Andrew Wardlaw called the scene "a mess of bodies."