The Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) are struggling to pull two stranded sperm whales in Tasmania's northwest coast back to the sea on Monday amid bad weather as 24 others died on a beach.

Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife incident controller Chris Arthur said the rescue was postponed to Tuesday, when weather condition is expected to improve, while reassuring that the stranded whales will survive a few days if managed properly. The whales are tired but they are flapping their fins and blowing water, he said.

Returning the two sperm whales to deep water is a dangerous undertaking as rescuers need to push the animals from the sandbanks to a surging sea in the narrow 25-metre channel of Strahan in Macquarie Harbour. However, Arthur said the method was proven effective in returning two other stranded whales on Sunday and rescuing seven stranded sperm whales in the harbour in 2007.

The rescue operation involves two boats and a special net to be slipped under the whale.

Meanwhile, 24 other whales, including two minkes that washed ashore on Ocean Beach Saturday died. Each of the whale weighs two tonnes and are up to 12 metres long.

Arthur explained that the whales suffocated to death because they could not maneuver to breathe through their blowholes.
The PWS will let the whales decompose on the beach because they are too large to be buried.

Tasmania has seen whales stranded on its shores particularly during summer months. The phenomenon could not be explained by scientists.