Whales gathered in a heart shape before washing ashore in Australia (video)

A group of nearly 100 pilot whales exhibited unusual behaviour before washing ashore in Australia. In the water, the sea giants formed a heart-like shape.

The New York Times reports that a pod of whales had been huddled together in shallow water off a remote beach in Western Australia for almost a day. At times, a group of whales formed a circle in the water, or stretched into a line, then the whales grouped together and formed a "heart".

Researchers, puzzled by this behaviour, feared that a mass stranding of whales was imminent.

The behaviour was "really unusual," said Kate Sprogis, a marine mammal ecologist at the University of Western Australia. According to her, whales don't usually behave like this.

Read also: More than 200 pilot whales died in Tasmania after they washed ashore en masse (photo)

On Tuesday, 25 July, the researchers' fears were confirmed. A group of nearly 100 whales rushed to shore, stranded on Chance Beach in southern Western Australia.

Rescuers rushed to the rescue, but 52 whales died, and the rest, who were able to be returned to the water, washed ashore again.

Officials later said that the surviving whales had been euthanised. Peter Hartley, a spokesperson for the Western Australian Parks and Wildlife Service, said it was "one of the hardest decisions" in his 34 years of wildlife management.

Researchers do not know exactly why mass whale suicides occur. One theory is that they happen when the pod leader becomes ill and swims into shallow water, and the rest of the group follows. Another reason could be that they were disoriented by loud underwater noise in the sea.

Earlier, wildlife experts in Ireland decided to suspend the autopsy of the beached whale. They fear that the whale's carcass could explode.

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