The animals are part of a pod of 157 whales that beached near Arthur River, a township in Tasmania. What caused them to beach remains unclear.

Department liaison officer Brendon Clark said the stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania in since 1974. That was a pod of more than 160 whales that landed on a beach near Stanley on the northwest coast. Strandings in Tasmania are usually pilot whales.

After 157 false killer whales were stranded on a Tasmanian beach, experts said only 90 have survived. Following a few failed "refloating" attempts to return the whales to the sea, the remaining survivors are expected to be euthanized.