Johannesburg - Rescue workers in Cape Town were scrambling to save dozens of beached Pilot whales washed up on the city's Kommetjie beach on Saturday morning. The whales began coming ashore shortly after dawn, the South African Press Association reported. It was not clear what caused the mass landing.
One whale had died by late afternoon as National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) volunteers and marine scientists battled to get them back to sea, using six municipal front-end loaders
The whales are on average 3 metres in length.
A NSRI spokesman said "all efforts" were being made to refloat the mammals but that scientists would have to consider later Saturday whether any that could not be moved needed to be euthanised.
Large crowds had gathered at the beach to observe the plight of the whales and offer their help.
"We are trying to make every effort to save them or to move them to (nearby) Simon's Town naval base," the NSRI's Craig Lambinon said.
If taken to the naval base, the whales would be put on board a naval vessel and taken out to sea, he said.
