Beached whales, dolphins rescued in Australia

The survivor was among 54 whales and five bottlenose dolphins that rescuers recoated from Naracoopa Beach on Tasmania State’s King Island on Monday, said Chris Arthur, Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service incident controller

Arthur said the 10-foot (3-meter) adult whale had struggled to reach open sea Monday night so rescuers guided it back to the beach.

He said 12 rescuers carried it Tuesday morning up the beach to above the high-water mark and were keeping it cool and upright beneath wet fabric.

"We'll stabilize the animal now and work out what we're going to do with it," Arthur told The Associated Press by telephone from the beach.

"The weather is not conducive at he moment to a rescue attempt," he added, referring to the northeasterly winds and rough seas.

The danger of the other rescued whales and dolphins returning to the beach had passed, Arthur said.

A total of 194 pilot whales and seven dolphins became stranded on Sunday evening the fourth beaching incident in recent months in Tasmania.

Up to 150 local volunteers helped wildlife experts keep dozens of the animals alive and to recoat them on Monday.

It was not clear why the animals had beached on the island, halfway between Tasmania and mainland Australia. Stranding happen periodically in Tasmania as whales go by during their migration to and from Antarctic waters, but scientists do not know why it happens. It is unusual, however, for whales and dolphins to get stranded together.

In January, 45 sperm whales died after becoming stranded on a remote Tasmanian sandbar, even though rescuers worked for days to keep them

cool and wet as they tried to move them back to the open water.