Hundreds of whales beached in Australia mass stranding, officials say at least half presumed alive

Australian wildlife officials in the state of Tasmania mobilized a rescue team on Wednesday after about 230 whales were found stranded on the state's west coast.

With at least half the whales presumed to still be alive, a team from the Marine Conservation Program was heading to the area with whale rescue gear, the department said. 

The mass stranding comes exactly two years to the day after about 470 long-finned pilot whales were found stuck on sandbars in the same harbor, which has a notoriously shallow and dangerous channel known as Hell’s Gate. After a week-long effort, 111 of those whales were rescued but the rest died.