Authorities have euthanized four small whales after 10 of the animals were stranded on a Maui beach. Two others might also be euthanized.

Officials said Thursday that veterinarians determined four of the stranded whales were in grave condition and nothing more could be done to save them.

Jeffrey Walters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the animals were made comfortable with a sedative and then humanely relieved of their suffering.

The other six whales were refloated to the ocean, but two of them were soon stranded again.

Walters said the prognosis for these two isn't good and they will likely be euthanized.

NOAA and University of Hawaii scientists will examine the whales to determine what caused the stranding.

Ealier, officials said ten small whales were stranded alive on a beach on the Hawaii island of Maui.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wildlife Management and Conservation Branch Chief Jeffrey Walters said in a statement Thursday that they are believed to be melon-headed whales.

The agency says NOAA veterinarians and University of Hawaii scientists are determining the best type of care for the whales on Sugar Beach in the community of Kihei.

Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Kealoha Pisciotta said the whales are a manifestation of the sea god Kanaloa.

She and others want to float the whales so they can swim away or die dignified deaths. Pisciotta said NOAA officials won't let them near the whales.

NOAA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on her complaint.

(Cover image is a stranded melon-headed whale on the shore of Hokota city, northeast of Tokyo on April 10, 2015. About 150 melon-headed whales were found beached along the shore. /VCG Photo)

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