New Zealand Beach: 145 Pilot Whales Found Dead

New Zealand: The Tragic scene was discovered by a hiker who was camping in the area. The hiker on sighting the dead 145 Pilot whales notified the Department of Conservation (DOC) on Saturday night.

The heartbreaking and devastating footage shows motionless whales and some half-buried in the sand.

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Almost 145 pilot whales are found dead after becomingstranded on the countries Stewart Island. 

The Department of Conservation informed half of the pilot whales were already dead when they reached the remote beach in New Zealand. The DOC also said that two pods of the whales were found stranded, 20miles south of New Zealand’s South Island.

Department of Conservation Rakiura Operation Manager Ren Leppens stated they due to the poor condition of the creatures they had to put the rest of the whales down.

As stated by Mr Leppens, it as the most humane thing to do.

“Sadly, the likelihood of being able to successfully refloat the remaining whales was extremely low,”

“However, it’s always a heart-breaking decision to make.”

New Zealand is known for the highest rate of world’s whale stranding. The exact cause is still unknown. On average 85 incidents ayear are responded to by the DOC mostly for single animal.

The whales were expected to have been on the beach for a day before being spotted by the hiker. Stewart Island is also known as Rakiura housing 380 people.

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According to the DOC factors contributing to such whale and dolphin strandings may include :

• sickness,
• navigational error,
• geographical features,
• a rapidly falling tide,
• being chased by a predator,
• extreme weather