Australian wildlife officers have made the difficult decision to euthanize 90 false killer whales stranded on a remote beach in Tasmania, after rough ocean conditions made it impossible to refloat them.

Wildlife rangers will Wednesday begin shooting 90 dolphins stranded on a remote Australian beach after attempts to refloat them failed.

The whales can weigh anywhere between 500kg to 3,000kg and some had sunk into the sand where they were stranded.

A pod of 157 dolphins from a poorly understood deep-sea species was found stranded Tuesday evening on an isolated beach in Australia's southern island of Tasmania. Tasmania's environment department said only 90 survived by Wednesday afternoon, growing increasingly "stressed" the longer they were exposed to beaming sun and lashing winds.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — More than 150 false killer whales are stranded on a remote beach on Australia’s island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday. Marine experts including veterinarians were at the scene near Arthur River on Tasmania’s northwest coast, a Department of Natural Resources and Environment statement said.