Rescuers release a stranded pilot whale back in the ocean at Macquarie Heads, on the west coast of Tasmania on Sept. 22, 2022. (Photo by GLENN NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images) HOBART, Australia - Wildlife officials said 32 out of the 230 whales found stranded on a remote beach in Australia have been rescued.The pod of pilot whales was found Wednesday on Ocean Beach, located on the island state of Tasmania.
About half were presumed to be alive at the time, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania said.But only 35 had survived the pounding surf overnight, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service manager Brendon Clark said.Rescuers release a stranded pilot whale back in the ocean at Macquarie Heads, on the west coast of Tasmania on September 22, 2022. (Photo by GLENN NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images) "Of the 35 that were remaining alive this morning, we’ve managed to refloat, rescue and release … 32 of those animals, and so that’s a terrific result," Clark told reporters late Thursday at nearby Strahan."We still have three alive on the far northern end of Ocean Beach, but because of access restrictions, predominantly tidal influences, we just haven’t been able to access those three animals safely today.
But they’ll be our priority in the morning," Clark added.This handout image supplied by NRE Tas shows an aerial view of a mass whale stranding near Macquarie Heads on September 21, 2022, in Strahan, Australia. (Photo by NRE Tas via Getty Images) The whales beached two years to the day after the largest mass-stranding in Australia’s history was discovered in the same harbor.About 470 long-finned pilot whales were found on Sept.