The pilot whales were discovered on the shore of the island of Sanday, Orkney, on Sunday. A large number of them appeared to have already been dead for a couple of days. 

A dozen that were still alive were later euthanised, according to the BBC. 

The pod included male whales up to seven metres (22ft) long as well as females, calves and juveniles.   

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The carcasses were buried across multiple land sites, which were approved following tests that were carried out to make sure they were not of any archaeological importance. 

A full investigation into the stranding is set to take place, the BBC said.   

Last summer, 77 pilot whales washed ashore on the island in another mass stranding incident.  

At the time, Molly Brown, who works for British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said that although the cause of the stranding was unknown, the whales are sociable and may have followed one of the groups that became stranded. 

She said: “Pilot whales are incredibly sociable and so its possible that one of them stranded and the rest followed. 

“It’s the largest one in a long time. We did have a mass stranding of 55 around this time last year on the Isle of Lewis. 

“It’s a different part of Scotland – I don’t know if it’s just coincidence. There’s a lot of disturbance.”