Residents help put whales back in sea

Rescuers used jet skis, backhoes and human muscle to save dozens of whales and dolphins stranded on a beach in southern Australia yesterday, officials said.

The 194 pilot whales and seven bottlenose dolphins became stranded on Naracoopa Beach on Tasmania state's King Island on Sunday evening - the fourth beaching incident in recent months in Tasmania.

Strandings happen periodically in Tasmania as whales go by during their migration to and from Antarctic waters, but scientists do not know why it happens. But it is unusual for whales and dolphins to get stranded together.