More than 150 short-finned pilot whales were found stranded early Friday in Hamelin Bay, Western Australia.  Despite the best effort of more than 100 volunteer rescuers, only 6 survived to be returned to the sea. Hamelin Bay is located about 192 miles southwest of Perth.

The cause of whale beachings is not known. Worldwide, every year, up to 2,000 cetaceans beach themselves.  In February of last year, over 400 pilot whales became stranded, near Farewell Spit, at the northernmost tip of the South Island of New Zealand.  

This is not the first mass stranding in the region. In 1996, about 320 long-finned whales became beached in Western Australia’s largest stranding. On the same day of yesterday’s stranding in 2009 more than 80 pilot whales and dolphins died in a mass stranding at the same location.

More Than 140 Whales Are Dead After Mass Stranding in Australia

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for contributing to this post