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145 Whales Die After Beaching On Remote Beach In New Zealand

145 Whales Die After Beaching On Remote Beach In New Zealand

Half were dead when rescuers arrived, but the rest had to be put down

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

One hundred and forty-five whales have died after becoming stranded on a beach in New Zealand.

The tragic incident took place on Stewart Island - also known as Rakiura - to the south of New Zealand's South Island.

When they were discovered on the remote island by a walker, more than half of the pilot whales were already dead. Unfortunately, in order to reduce the suffering of the remaining whales, the decision was taken to put them down.

It would have been too difficult and required too many people to even attempt to save the surviving whales.

The whales were beached on a remote beach around 22 miles from Oban - Stewart Island's main settlement - which is home to around 400 people.

Ren Leppens, a spokesperson from the region's Department of Conservation, said that they faced a 'heart-breaking decision' upon discovering the large number of sea mammals on the beach, already half buried in sand by the tide.

Leppens continued: "Sadly, the likelihood of being able to successfully re-float the remaining whales was extremely low.

"The remote location, lack of nearby personnel and the whales' deteriorating condition meant the most humane thing to do was to euthanise."

Because of the isolated nature of the beach that the whales washed up on, it is thought that they were stranded for more than a day before they were eventually discovered late on Saturday evening.

In a separate incident, 12 pygmy whales became stranded on 90 Mile Beach on New Zealand's North Island.

Two have died since they were found on Sunday, but hope remains for the other ten creatures.

While whale strandings are common in New Zealand - there are around 85 cases per year across the country - it is not known exactly why or how the whales end up in this situation.

There are several theories that encompass navigational mistakes, illness, being chased by predators, and instances of extreme weather, but so far no-one can be sure.

While many of the incidents that the New Zealand Department of Conservation deals with involve only one whale, there have been other cases in which huge numbers of cetaceans have become stranded.

Last February, 400 pilot whales became beached on South Island. The following day, another 240 stranded themselves at the same place. More than half of the whales died.

The largest single stranding in recorded history happened in 1918 when around 1,000 pilot whales beached themselves on New Zealand's Chatham Islands.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: New Zealand, World News, News, Whales, Animals