Two hundred whales have died in a mass stranding off the coast of Tasmania.
The area is notorious for being a whale trap with hundreds dying there two years ago.
A massive operation is underway to ensure the last few whales will live.
The whales are desperately thrashing for survival stranded on the wild and remote West Coast of Tasmania.
"They've been on the beach for a long time. They are confused, they are disorientated," wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said.
They were first discovered on Monday but in the last 24 hours, almost all of the 230 pilot whales have died and there’s little hope for the rest.
"They’re stressed, they've had a long time on the beach and it is possible we will lose further animals," Carlyon said.
Overnight 35 of the surviving whales were left on their own in conditions that were too dangerous for human intervention.
"It is a difficult decision to leave them overnight, realistically there was nothing we could do other than put them in a position that best aided their chances of survival," incident controller Brendon Clark said.
By the morning five more had died. Now a powerhouse of highly skilled and trained experts is planning how they’ll move the hefty one-tonne animals into deeper water.
Locals have witnessed this before as it is the same harbour where Australia’s largest whale stranding ever happened just two years ago.
"Clearly there's something with this environment that means it acts as a natural whale trap," Carlyon said.
But even with the odds against them, the tireless effort to help the remaining thirty will continue into the evening.
