Battle Continues to Save Beached Whales

SEAL ROCKS, Australia — Hundreds of volunteers worked through the night Wednesday with wet towels, buckets of water and soothing words to try to save 25 beached whales.

The volunteers were buoyed by the successful return to sea of 15 healthier whales during the day. The whales were reported 10 miles off Australia’s coast, heading east to deeper waters, said a National Parks and Wildlife spokesman, Lawrence Orel.

Orel said nine whales had died since a pod of 49 was discovered early Tuesday stranded beneath a lighthouse at Seal Rocks, 125 miles north of Sydney. Veterinarians plan to conduct autopsies on the dead whales to try to determine why they beached themselves.