Officials saved nine melon-headed whales stranded on a beach in eastern China.

The video, filmed in the city of Taizhou in Zhejiang Province on July 6, shows wet towels covering the stranded whales and rescuers pouring water onto them to keep them moist and alive.

According to reports, three of the 12 stranded melon-headed whales were dead before the rescuers arrived.

They then lifted the nine alive whales up and brought two of them back into the sea, sending five of them to a shrimp breeding pond and the other two to Taizhou Ocean World to be taken care of temporarily.

According to experts, the incident may have been caused by a combination of the whales' echolocation and the receding tide.

The video was provided by local media with permission.

6日上午8时许，警方接到群众报警，称浙江台州临海头门港海域发现十余头疑似海豚的动物在海滩上搁浅。当地公安、消防、渔政等部门与附近热心渔民迅速展开营救。经杭州、宁波、温州及台州地区的专家确认，一致认定：搁浅的鲸豚类动物是瓜头鲸。
由于近期天气酷热，搁浅地距离岸边很远，且瓜头鲸体长2米左右，重量大，很难通过人力搬运或运输，救援难度很大。
临海市海洋与渔业执法大队大队长朱雨朋表示，为帮助鲸鱼等待救援，他们首先采用挖坑蓄水的方式，给搁浅的鲸鱼喷水，用毛巾湿敷，维系它们的湿度和生命，并且还运来了冰块为它们降温。
临海市委宣传部相关负责人表示，12头搁浅的瓜头鲸，其中3头在救援人员赶到现场前就已失去生命体征。搁浅的鲸鱼是在距离岸边数百米远的滩涂发现的，推测是海水退去后，鲸鱼来不及离开而搁浅。
截至21时，9头全部被救援上岸，其中2头已放归大海，5头被送往宏野养虾塘，另2头在台州海洋世界暂养。（视频由浙江台提供）