More than 150 false killer whales are stranded on a beach in the state of Tasmania, with rescue teams now scrambling to save those still alive, Australian environment officials have said.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said in a statement on Wednesday that marine experts are at the scene of the mass beaching near Arthur River on Tasmania’s northwest coast, about 400km (250 miles) from the state capital, Hobart.

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“They’ve been stranded now for, we estimate, 24 to 48 hours,” said Brendon Clark, a liaison officer at the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.

Speaking at a news conference, Clark said that of the 157 beached false killer whales, only 90 appeared to still be alive. Authorities have yet to determine if any of the whales can be re-floated, he added.

“To try to re-float the animals directly back into that surf would be challenging, and then, of course, that would also present some enormous safety risks for our staff and personnel,” Clark said.

He explained that the inaccessibility of the beach, the ocean conditions and the challenges around getting specialist equipment to the remote beach were complicating the rescue response.

“We’ve got our experts on site now that are doing … all that they can to determine what methodology will be implemented to try and find a suitable and a humane response to this particular very challenging incident,” Clark said.

A local resident, Jocelyn Flint, said her son had discovered the stranded whales at about midnight on Tuesday, the Associated Press news agency reports.

“The water was surging right up and they were thrashing. They’re just dying, they’ve sunk down in the sand,” Flint said.

“There are little babies. Up one end, there’s a lot of big ones. It’s sad,” she added.

False killer whales are an endangered species of oceanic dolphin resembling killer whales in appearance. They can grow up to 6.1 metres (20 feet) long and weigh from 500kg (about 1,100 pounds) to 3 metric tonnes (about 6,600 pounds).

Clark said the incident was the first stranding of the species in Tasmania since 1974, when a pod of more than 160 landed on a beach near Stanley on the island’s northwest coast.

Clark declined to speculate as to why the latest pod might have stranded, but he said the carcasses would be examined for clues.

There are several things that can cause whales to become beached, including disorientation, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.

The state’s environment department warned in a statement that “all whales are protected species, even once deceased, and it is an offence to interfere with a carcass”.