145 whales die on New Zealand beach, workers decide to euthanize others

New Delhi : Close to 145 pilot whales was found dead on a remote beach in New Zealand. For now, conservation workers are expecting to save some of the eight pygmy killer whales that remained stranded Monday at the other end of the country.

The pilot whales were discovered by a hiker while he was on his trip along side Stewart Island on Saturday. About 75 were already dead and conservation workers decided to euthanize the others due to their poor condition and remote location.

Sources confirmed that merely 375 people live on Stewart Island, which is also called Rakiura. The whales were found at Mason’s Bay about 35 kilometers from the main township of Oban.

“You feel for the animals, it’s just a really sad event,” said Ren Leppens, the Rakiura operations manager for the Department of Conservation. “It’s the kind of thing you don’t want to see. You wish you could understand the reasoning why the whales strand better, so you could intervene.”

Leppens reported that the whales were half buried in sand and not in good health, indicating they had been there for perhaps a day before they were found. He said staff shot the whales and the carcasses would be left where they were for nature to take its course.

In the meantime, on Sunday, 10 pygmy killer whales were found stranded at Ninety Mile Beach on the North Island. Two have since died, and staff plan to try and refloat the remaining eight.

Experts say that stranding is common phenomenon in New Zealand during the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer. It’s believed stranding can be caused by a number of factors, such as the whales trying to escape predators, falling ill, or navigating incorrectly.