One of the worst whale beachings in New Zealand’s history occurred Friday morning after more than 400 pilot whales got stuck in the sand.

Volunteers and conservation workers raced between whales beached at Farewell Spit at the northern tip of the South Island, sloshing water from buckets over their bodies, which were skewed fins akimbo and over three or four deep in places, the New York Times reports.

Kath Inwood a community ranger at New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, told the Times that around 300 volunteers had joined conservation workers at the scene. Some formed human chains to prevent rescued whales from swimming back ashore, others doused water over surviving whales, trying to keep them wet and cool.

“It can be really quite distressing seeing so many dead whales,” Inwood said. “People need to be resilient and handle that and then get on with what needs to be done.”

Although some whales had been rescued and others remained beached but alive on Friday morning, about three-quarters had reportedly died.

Mass pilot-whale stranding is common in New Zealand and occurs most years at the Farewell Spit, which has reportedly been described as a whale trap. However, according to Inwood, the scale of Friday’s beaching has nevertheless come as a shock.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Joseph Hincks at joseph.hincks@time.com.