Marine scientists on Saturday began to euthanize 34 pilot whales that beached themselves at the southern tip of South Africa, local media reported.
Scientists then decided there was no alternative but to kill about 35 whales to prevent further suffering. A further 10 died of stress. And it was feared that the whales that did manage to escape were too exhausted to survive.
Rescuers managed to push 20 whales back into the water along Kommetjie Beach near Cape Town, said Craig Lambinon, spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute.
But high waves washed some of them back to shore shortly after bulldozers pushed them into the water, he said.
Fifty-five false killer whales washed up on the shores of Kommitjie, near the Cape of Good Hope, in the early morning, prompting a massive all-day rescue effort. Hundreds of locals wearing wet suits or shorts braved high winds and rough waves to try to push the massive mammals from knee-deep water back into the open sea.
One woman suffered suspected fractured ribs after being pinned between a whale and rocks. A number of volunteers had to be rescued from the surf while trying to swim the whales beyond the breaking waves, according to Ian Klopper of the National Sea Rescue Institute.
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