The sea turns red as 150 whales are battered to death against rocks in mass stranding off Australian coast

Heartbroken wildlife officials, mourning the death of 150 small whales when they were smashed against rocks in Tasmania, admit there will probably be other mass strandings in the weeks to come.

Just why whales die in large numbers continues to be debated but most experts agree that the deep-water creatures might lose their navigational skills when they chase prey into shallow waters.

The bodies of the long-finned pilot whales lay scattered across the rocks at Tasmania's rugged Sandy Cape after local people and government wildlife officials tried desperately to save them.