On Friday, rescuers in Japan were forced to stop efforts to save about 150 melon-headed whales stranded on a Japanese beach. Before that, the rescuers worked all day to save the cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family.

According to local officials in Hokota, they only managed to save just three of the 149 animals. As the darkness fell, they were forced to abandon the rescue operation. The officials also said that as the rescue effort had been called off, there are chances that rest of the animals had either died or were dying.

While talking about the rescue effort, an unnamed Hokota city official said that the rescuers were asked to abandon efforts to save the creature as it was becoming dark and too dangerous to continue the rescue operation at the beach. The official also said that another problem that they faced was that they could not bring heavy equipment to the site.

He further said, “Many people volunteered to rescue them but the dolphins became very, very weak. Only three of them have been successfully returned to the sea, as far as we can confirm”. According to reports, before abandoning the rescue operation, coastguard teams and locals worked all day to save the about 150 melon-headed whales. They tried to stop the animals’ skin from drying out as they lay on the sand.

Television footage showed a number melon-headed whales had been badly cut, and many had deep gashes to their skin. According to a journalist reporting from the scene, some of the animals were pushed onto the beach by the tide.

A coastguard official said that it was a very difficult task. Usually, coastguard officials see only one or two whales washing ashore a year, but this time there were more than 100 whales on a beach.