Rescuers' race against time to save 180 stranded whales in Australia

Rescuers hope to save nearly 200 whales stuck in a remote Australian harbour, and to prevent the toll of 90 dead -- as of Tuesday -- from rising further.

They have so far managed to free "a small number" of the stranded mammals.

Scientists said two large pods of long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars in Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania's rugged and sparsely populated west coast.

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About 60 people -- including volunteers and local fish-farm workers -- then got involved in the rescue attempt. They waded in the water to reach the whales to refloat them in deeper passages.

Though mass whale strandings occur relatively often in Tasmania, such a large group has not been seen in the area for more than a decade.

The animals are only accessible by boat, limiting the number of rescuers who can reach them. They are battling chilly and rainy conditions as well as the harbour's unusual tides, which are dictated by barometric pressure.

Most of a 30-strong group on a nearby beachwere found dead Monday, while about 60 other whales on the sandbars are also believed to have since died.

Once the whales are returned to deeper water, rescuers said, the biggest challenge will be herding the social creatures out of the sandbar-riddled harbour and back into the open ocean.

Scientists said it was unclear what caused the latest stranding.