TOKYO -- Local officials and residents mounted an all-out rescue effort Monday to save some 85 melon-headed whales that became stranded on an eastern Japanese beach Monday, AFP quoted police as saying.

Despite the operation, by some 42 police, firefighters, local officials, residents and three trucks which began at 6:00 am (0900 GMT) and ended around 9:40 am, 53 of the animals died.

"They took the whales by truck to the harbor and released them," said Hidenori Manaka a police officer at nearby Kashima police station. "The whales that died will be buried on the beach."

Thirty-two melon-headed whales, about two to three meters (six feet five inches to nine feet nine inches), in length, managed to swim free after being taken to deeper waters, he said.

Police received notice about 8:00 pm Sunday night that more whales had been stranded on a long strip of shallow shore line near Hasaki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Tokyo, following the 10 that had been stranded earlier that day some 10 kilometers to the north.

At the time, about 30 Hasaki residents waded into the sea to push seven stranded whales into deeper water, but they were unable to save three.

A prefectural official said the beachings happen year-round as whales get trapped in the shallow shore line running more than 100 kilometers north-south. Last February, some 50 to 60 melon-headed whales were beached in the same area, and many of them died.

"The whales chase fish, but if they make the mistake of swimming into shallow water, their sense of direction is thrown off and they become unable to find their way to deeper water," said Tadaaki Kuroyama, an Ibaraki prefectural official handling the beaching.

DNA samples were to taken from the dead whales before their burial as part of a national survey program, he said.

Officials could not confirm a report in the **** Yomiuri Shimbun **** Monday that one of the whales beached Sunday morning had been taken by a group of local residents to be eaten.

"Beached whales are known in the area as 'gifts from the ocean'," the paper said.

"Taking them is not against the law, but we don't know if the whales have died of some sickness or virus, so for safety's sake we advise people not to eat them," said Kuroyama. 07-35-31.J06