The animals were trucked overland to a bay with deeper waters in an attempt to save them after nearly 70 others died when they beached themselves in Western Australia state.

A group of 87 whales and five bottlenose dolphins beached themselves in Hamelin Bay. One dolphin and 72 whales died before they could be rescued.

Volunteers and government employees worked all day and overnight to stabilize the survivors, keeping them wet and moving them into one pod in a safe holding area with slightly deeper water.

Most beached whales die of dehydration, overheating or from their weight, which can crush their internal organs once they leave the weightlessness of the water.

Rough seas and high waves hampered the rescue effort at Hamelin Bay and officials decided to move the surviving animals overland to deeper, more protected waters in Flinders Bay, about 20 kilometers away.

Four whales and four dolphins were pushed back to sea before the move. The remaining 11 whales—which measure up to 6 meters long and weigh up to 3.5 tons—were loaded into trucks by slings and individually transported to the new location.