Over 200 pilot whales were stranded at the mouth of Toby Inlet at Geographe Bay near Dunsborough, 285 kilometers south of Perth, Western Australia, Thursday (Apr. 25).

According to Australian public broadcaster ABC, community members have converged on the beach to help keep the whales alive.

Still, local conservation authorities urged people to stay away from the area to allow wildlife specialists to do their work at the scene. 

Geographe Marine Research chair Ian Wiese told the ABC that, while between 20 and 31 whales were dead, the rest of the group eventually got away into the sea.

"When I first arrived, there was, I think, 160 in the water—almost out of the water—and there were a couple of hundred people who were with the whales, they were trying to comfort them and make sure that their heads were out of the water so they could breathe." he said.

"And then after an hour or so, all of a sudden the ones that were in the water that were still alive left and went out to sea."

Weise expressed hope that the whales that escaped being fully beached would avoid doing so. 

Last July, almost 100 pilot whales died or were euthanized after a two-day rescue attempt in a mass stranding on Cheyenes Beach near the former whaling station of Albany, 355 kilometers southeast of Dunsborough, also in the state of Western Australia.

Scientists are still wondering why whales beach themselves at the risk of natural death or humane destruction, but some say their location systems could be confused by gently sloping, sandy beaches. 

Other theories include avoidance from predators like killer whales, a pod following a sick leader ashore, or human-made undersea noise.