Hundreds of locals and conservation officers have been trying to rescue the survivors since early Friday and formed a human chain to refloat the whales.
Scientists do not know what exactly causes whales to beach themselves.
But it sometimes happens because the whales are old and sick, injured, or make navigational errors particularly along gentle sloping beaches.
Sometimes when one whale is beached, it will send out a distress signal attracting other members of its pod, who then also get stranded by a receding tide.
Are whales attempting suicide when they strand themselves?
![](https://i0.wp.com/ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/15D3D/production/_94250498_7493cc13-1b60-422e-87f6-504ce9946b81.jpg?resize=688%2C387)
![People stand next to stranded pilot whales seen in the water on the beach in Golden Bay, New Zealand after one of the country's largest recorded mass whale strandings on Friday, in this still frame taken from video released 10 February 2017.](https://i0.wp.com/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/2909/production/_94250501_d5fcb50b-e472-4d0e-9f83-4b80dca01b51.jpg?resize=688%2C387)
Source: BBC