Story highlights Twenty-four of the 198 pilot whales stranded on Farewell Spit have already died

Conservation officials and volunteers will try to refloat the surviving whales

(CNN) Conservationists are racing to try to save more than 170 whales stranded on a remote beach on New Zealand's South Island.

Twenty-four of the 198 pilot whales stuck on the beach have already died, New Zealand's Department of Conservation said Friday.

The department's staff, helped by 140 volunteers, were planning to try to refloat the giant mammals as the tide rose Friday evening, it said.

The whales are stuck on Farewell Spit, a thin claw of land that reaches out into the sea from the northern tip of the South Island.

The spit forms the top of Golden Bay, which is known as a stranding hotspot because of its protruding coastline, gently sloping beaches and system of currents.

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