145 Pilot Whales Die After Getting Stranded On A Remote Island In New Zealand

On Saturday, a hiker discovered pilot whales stranded on a remote island of New Zealand ¨C Stewart Island. There were 145 pilot whales in all, and half of them had already died by the time officials could reach them.

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Things were not looking up for the other whales either and it was almost impossible to get them help in time, owing to the remote location of the island. So, the decision was made to euthanise the rest of the whales.

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"Sadly, the likelihood of being able to successfully re-float the remaining whales was extremely low," said Ren Leppens, the Department of Conservation's operations manager on Stewart Island.

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

"However, it's always a heart-breaking decision to make."

Three more strandings were discovered in New Zealand over the weekend. Two of these were in areas where beaching is common with the conservation department responding to over 85 incidents in a year. Officials still don¡¯t know the exact reason behind these strandings ¨C it could be geographical features, navigational errors, rapidly-falling tide or extreme weather.

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