More than 200 whales beached in Australia’s Tasmania. Rescue efforts are underway

About 230 whales have been stranded on Tasmania’s west coast, just days after 14 sperm whales were found beached on an island off the southeastern coast.

The pod, which is stranded on Ocean Beach, appears to be of pilot whales, and at least half are presumed to still be alive, Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said Wednesday.

A team from the Marine Conservation Program was assembling whale rescue gear and heading to the area, the department said.

A resident told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the whales were visible near the entrance to Macquarie Harbor and described the stranding as a “massive event.”

David Midson, general manager of the West Coast Council, urged people to stay clear.

“Whales are a protected species, even once deceased, and it is an offense to interfere with a carcass,” the environment department said.

Fourteen sperm whales were discovered Monday afternoon on King Island, part of the state of Tasmania in the Bass Strait between Melbourne and Tasmania’s northern coast. The department said it was not unusual for sperm whales to be sighted in Tasmania.

Griffith University marine scientist Olaf Meynecke said it’s unusual for sperm whales to wash ashore. He said that warmer temperatures could also be changing the ocean currents and moving the whales’ traditional food sources.

“They will be going to different areas and searching for different food sources,” Meynecke said. “When they do this, they are not in the best physical condition because they might be starving, so this can lead them to take more risks and maybe go closer to shore.”

The pilot whale is notorious for stranding in mass numbers, for reasons that are not entirely understood.

Two years ago, about 470 long-finned pilot whales were found beached on sandbars off Tasmania’s west coast in the largest mass stranding on record in Australia. After a weeklong effort, 111 of those whales were rescued, but the rest died.