Rescuers are working to save stranded whales with a warning that only a few dozen of the 470 marine mammals stuck on Australia's coast can be saved. At least 380 pilot whales have died since their pod was discovered beached on Tasmania's rugged western seaboard on September 20. It is Australia's largest-ever mass stranding.

Around 70 of the creatures have survived and the death toll is expected to rise as the window for rescue is closing. A crew of around 60 conservationists and skilled volunteers have spent days wading in the Macquarie Harbour, surrounded by the anguished cries of whales slowly dying.