High winds that brought nutrients to the surface lured 48 sperm whales to shallow water in Tasmania where they stranded, Australian scientists said Friday.

Wildlife rescuers said that only five of the animals remained alive late Friday, The Age reported. The living animals were mixed in with the dead on a sand bar on Perkins Island off the northwest coast of Tasmania.

Karen Evans, a government scientist, said that the winds occur in a 10-year cycle. She said the upwelling brings squid and other whale prey to the area, and the whales then follow.

"I've flown over this area where the sperm whales are, and it's almost like a whale death trap," she said. "There are lots of wide sandbars and beaches, all kinds of traps for animals that go into it."

Warwick Brennan, a spokesman for the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, said the best chance to save any of the animals would come at high tide Saturday. The remote area, reachable only by boat, and the whales' large size, make a rescue difficult, he added.

Two large groups of pilot whales stranded in November, one nearby and the other about 50 miles away.