More than 130 dolphins beached in Japan

Rescuers are frantically trying to save more than 130 melon-headed whales, a member of the dolphin family, after the large pod beached itself in Japan on Friday. A coastguard official told AFP that many of the animals are being helped back into the ocean, only to be pushed again up onto the shore because of the tide.

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"We see one or two whales washing ashore a year, but this may be the first time to find over 100 of them on a beach,” the official said.

Locals are carrying buckets of water up from the sea to pour over the dolphins, in an effort to keep the creatures from drying out. But the coastguard official said many of the animals have already died, and are being buried.