ILOILO CITY, Philippines -- Residents of Boracay Island were in a quandary on how to rescue a young pilot whale that was stranded near the shores of the central Philippine island-resort on Tuesday.

The two-meter-long pilot whale was first seen around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near the shores in the village of Balabag at the opposite side of the white beach.

Nenette Graf, owner of the Green Yard Sunboard Center, said resort staff, along with wind surfing and kite boarding instructors, first brought the whale towards the open sea but it kept on coming back towards the shore.

"We are concerned because the whale kept on hitting its head against the rocks," Graf told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Around 5 p.m., the residents brought the whale to the white beach on the other side of the island first through a van then on a raft attached to a speedboat.

But the dolphin returned to knee-deep waters around 5:30 p.m., said Graf.

Tourists and residents on the island flocked near the shore in the middle of the island, between Boat Stations 2 and 3 to watch the whale.

As of 6:45 p.m., the whale remained in shallow water while the residents continued to monitor it.

The residents also sought assistance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources so it could save the whale.

The website of the National Marine Fisheries services of the US Department of Commerce described the short-finned pilot whales as larger members of the dolphin group reaching average lengths of 12 feet for females and 18 feet for males and adult weight of 2,200 to 6,600 pounds.

They prefer tropical and temperate waters found typically in deep waters and are often involved in mass strandings.