Australia plans disposal of hundreds of stranded whale carcasses

FILE PHOTO: A whale lies on the beach as the rescue efforts take place at Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania, Australia September 22,2020 in this picture obtained from social media. Bilal Rashid via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian officials were planning the grim task of disposing of almost 400 whale carcasses on Thursday as hopes faded there would be many more survivors of one of the world's biggest mass strandings of the mammals.

Rescuers had managed to free almost 90 of the long-finned pilot whales beached off the country's remote southern coast by late Thursday. The majority of those freed had reached deeper water, officials said, but at least four were likely to be euthanised and others might return when the tide turns.