李玉方

約230頭鯨魚在澳大利亞塔斯馬尼亞州擱淺，直愣愣地躺在沙灘上。救援者不僅得維持鯨魚的生命體征，還得想辦法將它們運回海中。

About 230 whales beached themselveson the western part of the Australianisland of? Tasmania. At least half werealive and animal officials were working torescue them. They were also trying to understandwhy thewhalesgotstuck.

The whales were stuck on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Harbor in the westernpart of Tasmania. Exactly three yearsago， 470 whales became stuck on sand inthe same area. That time， about 100whales were saved but the rest died.

The whales are pilot whales， whichweigh between 1，000 and 2，000 kilogramsand measure over 6 meters. The InternationalWhaling Commission says pilotwhales are the species that most often isbeached in large numbers. Some scientistsbelieve it is because they travel in largegroups and follow a leader.

Tasmania s Department of NaturalResources said a team from the MarineConservation Program was heading to thearea to help the whales. Linton Kringle is asalmon farmer who helped with the rescuein 2020. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this years work would bemore difficult. That time， he said， thewhales were in the harbor so people couldreach them easily on boats. This time， theywere outside of the safe area， on a beach，which mean it will be harder to get boatsnear them.

Olaf Meynecke is a marine scientistat Griffith University in Australia. He saidwarmer ocean temperatures could beforcing the whales into different areas tolook for food.“When they do this， they arenot in the best physical condition becausethey might be starving， so this can leadthem to take more risks and maybe gocloser to shore，”Meynecke said.

Reading Check

Why did so many whales beach themselveson the shore according to Meynecke？