Hundreds of whales dead in mass New Zealand stranding

Saturday, February 11, 2017, 12:55 PM - Unfortunately, volunteers helping with whale rescue efforts on the shore of Farewell Spit in Golden Bay, New Zealand have been faced with a major setback as a new large pod of about 200 pilot whales have stranded themselves.

Officials say this is one of the largest strandings the country has ever seen. It all started on Thursday night when 400 pilot whales came ashore overnight, with 300 dying on Friday as volunteers from the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Project Jonah worked tirelessly to refloat the cetaceans.

Volunteers had successfully refloated about 100 Saturday afternoon.

"There are 100 volunteers making a human chain in neck deep water endeavouring to prevent the whales restranding, with around another 200 volunteers on the beach," a Saturday DOC news release reads. "There are three boats in the water monitoring the situation."

However, despite their best efforts, the group was unable to stop the new pod from making landfall. The DOC is now desperate for more volunteers to help refloat the new arrivals during the next high tide on Sunday.

The DOC says 20 whales will need to be euthanized "out of concern for their welfare."

"A further attempt to refloat them and get them back out to sea would be unlikely to succeed given the situation they are in," the release reads. "Unsuccessful attempts at refloating the whales would likely lead to more injury and stress to them and prolong the whales' suffering."

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According to the DOC, the whales were first spotted in the shallow waters Thursday evening. However, the government agency decided not to start rescue efforts as it was deemed unsafe for people to work in the dark.

Sharks may have contributed to the problem

According to DOC ranger Mike Ogle, the pilot whales may have been frightened into the shallow waters by sharks as great whites are known to swim in the area off Farewell Spit.

"There's one carcass out there with some shark bites in it - but not a big one, just a small one, but quite fresh bites so yeah, there's something out there," Ogle told Radio New Zealand.

The mass stranding could also be associated with seasonal migration and it's possible that the pod's navigation went wrong somewhere, the news agency reports.

The recent whale stranding was the largest in New Zealand since 1985 when 450 beached themselves near Auckland.

In January 2003, a pod of 159 pilot whales were stranded, which half have since died of dehydration.

The bay's shallow waters make it challenging for whales to return to deeper water, according to marine life rescue organization Jonah Watch.

SOURCE: DOC | Radio New Zealand