More than 100 beached whales die in N Zealand

At least 100 whales have died out of the 200 that are washed up on a beach in New Zealand.

Volunteers from the Project Jonah conservation group are working against the clock to save the rest of the mammals near Farewell Spit after more than half of them did not survive, the BBC reports.

The pilot whales are being doused in water to keep them cool and moist in the heat and some of the them were successfully refloated on Friday, the group said.

However attempts to get them away from the 7km stretch of beach and back into the sea are more likely to succeed during the high tide.

Even if the whales are refloated, that is no guarantee they would survive, Department of Conservation area manager Andrew Lamason said.

"We've had plenty times in the past where the pods have gone out to sea and turned around and come back again," he said.

The community group is made up of 140 highly-trained volunteers, but Lamason said that more help may be needed today between 8am and 3pm local time to keep the whales wet and cool until the next high tide.