Two pods of pilot whales , tot up 145 individuals , were found stranded on New Zealand ’s shore on the evening of Saturday , November 24 . Unfortunately , all of the animals have now died .
The whales beach on Stewart Island , a pocket-sized island off the south glide of New Zealand ’s South Island . The two pods were discovered rough 2 kilometer ( 1.2 miles ) asunder .
About one-half of the whales were already dead when they were found , while the distant nature of their positioning meant that trying to deliver the remaining survivors would have been too difficult . Therefore , officials made the difficult decision to euthanize the animal to belittle their suffering .
“ Sadly , the likelihood of being able-bodied to successfully re - blow the remain whales was extremely low , ” said Ren Leppens of New Zealand ’s Department of Conservation in astatement . “ The removed location , lack of nearby personnel and the whales ’ drop condition mean the most humane thing to do was to euthanize .
“ However , it ’s always a heart - breaking conclusion to make . ”
New Zealand Department of Conservation
So why did the whales finish up on the beach ?
Stranded whalesaren’t all that uncommon in New Zealand , with the Department of Conservation respond to roughly 85 incident each year . In February 2017,416 pilot whalesbecame run aground on the seashore of the country ’s South Island . However , strandings normally just call for a single fauna .
It ’s unclear exactly why the whales became stranded , but there are many different factors that could have played a office . They may have been chased into shallow piddle by predators , such asorcasor a large shark , they may have been sick , or they could have been affected by utmost weather . The whales may even have gotten lost or been caught out by a apace retreating tide .
Although human treatment does sometimes successfully save beach whales , the animals often choke due to dehydration , collapsing under their own weight , or even drowning if the tide lift over their vent-hole .
The pilot whales were n’t the only cetaceans to retrieve themselves stuck on New Zealand ’s beaches this weekend – on Sunday 10 pigmy grampus whalesbecame strandedon the North Island ’s Ninety Mile Beach and a sperm whale beached on Karikari Peninsula , also on the North Island . According to theDepartment of Conservation , the various strandings are unlikely to be touch on .
The spermatozoan whale sadly died on Saturday , while two of the pygmy killer whale have also decease . attempt to refloat their pod - Paraguay tea are being made today .
