Mass Whale Beaching- No Survivors
Officials who rushed to the site to help survivors found only seven alive, and began pouring water over the semi-submerged mammals to keep them cool as they tried to devise a plan to free them.
Sunday, rescuers gave up hope of saving the last survivor.
"We are administering palliative care," said Chris Arthur, a spokesman for Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service.
The animals - the largest up to 60 feet (18 meters) long and weighing up to 22 U.S. tons (20 tons) each - were too heavy to lift free of the sandbar, Arthur said.
Ironically, the thick blubber that insulates the animals when they swim in deep Antarctic waters has posed one of the greatest dangers.
"The blubber, which is a real asset to them in the deep cold waters, just really makes them heat up quickly," Brennan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio earlier Sunday. ..
