Rescuers scramble to save stranded pilot whales in Tasmania, with up to 90 feared dead

Marooning of 270 whales at Macquarie Harbour the worst in more than a decade, as operation under way to refloat animals

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Marine rescue teams are rushing to save a pod of pilot whales stranded off the coast of Tasmania in a multi-day operation, with up to a third of the 270 mammals likely already dead.

Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast is known to be a hotspot for the marooning of marine animals, but this event is believed to be the worst in more than a decade, with the pod of hundreds of whales scattered across two sandbars and one beach.