Dozens of whales die after being stranded on New Zealand beach

New Zealand conservation officials are planning another attempt to refloat at least 15 pilot whales that were part of a larger group that beached themselves earlier today.

The country's Department of Conservation said it got a distress call this morning from a person who spotted 58 beached whales stranded on Karikari Beach, a remote area in the far northern part of New Zealand.

When conservation officials arrived only 15 of the animals were still alive.

"The focus for everyone right now was to try to refloat the survivors," the conservation department said in a news release.

To do that, officials will position the whales to face out to sea and hope that they swim back out when high tide hits.

The whales "need to be held in the water for at least half an hour to allow them to re-orientate themselves, before being released to hopefully swim back out to sea," the conservation department said.

A first attempt to refloat the whales was not successful Friday night and conservation officials were going to monitor the animals overnight in the hopes of trying again.

That next attempt would happen Saturday morning, said Mike Davies, acting area manager at the Department of Conservation Kaitaia office.

Adult pilot whales can measure up to 20-feet long and weigh up to three tons. Due to their social nature, they are often involved in mass strandings, according to the American Cetacean Society. The ACS is a non-profit group based in California that works to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises, according to its website.

(Via CNN)