Authorities are racing to save a pod of pilot whales which have become stranded on a beach in Western Australia.

The pod of at least 60 whales was first spotted about 100 metres off the coast at Cheynes Beach on Monday evening.

Witnesses told local media that they found the sight of whales tightly clustering unusual. Cheynes Beach Caravan Park owner Joanne Marsh told ABC News that she had never seen anything like it in the decades she’s lived in the area.

Once the whales began beaching themselves on the shore, wildlife authorities launched an emergency response effort in a bid to save them.

Dr Andrew Brownlow, director of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme who recently responded to a similar incident on a Scottish beach, explains why an incident like this may have happened.

He told the BBC that rescuers are now in a race against time to save the animals.

Video produced by Jordan Kelly-Linden