250 pilot whales die in New Zealand after another beaching incident

In what comes as another horrible incident, about 250 pilot whales have died after beaching on the remote Chatham Island in New Zealand. The incident comes a couple of weeks after over 200 pilot whales were found dead in Australia after getting stranded in a similar manner.

New Zealand's department of conservation said that whales were stranded on the northwest of the island and that all of them had died. Those who remained alive were euthanised to ease the pain.

"All the stranded pilot whales are now deceased and their bodies will be left to decompose naturally on site," the department said in a statement.

"We do not actively refloat whales on the Chatham Islands due to the risk of shark attack to both humans and the whales themselves," it added.

The island houses less than 800 people and lies nearly 840 kilometres east of mainland New Zealand which makes it extremely difficult to carry out any rescue operation.

"The Chatham Islands is a challenging spot for stranding response, known for great white sharks, remote beaches, and a resident population of less than 800 people,” Project Jonah, a marine mammal rescue charity whose volunteers worked on the ground informed.

"These mass strandings are distressing events, and while we always hope for surviving whales are able to be refloated, this wasn't an option here. Ourthoughts go to the Department of Conservation (DOC) rangers and the local community at this time," it added.

Chatham Island has seen its fair share of such unfortunate beaching events. In 1918, over 1000 pilot whales reportedly got stranded on the island, which, to date is the largest recorded beaching event.

As reported by WION, the incident in New Zealand comes a couple of weeks after the neighbouring country of Australia witnessed a similar tragedy.

Nearly 200 whales had died then after beaching on Tasmania's west coast. According to the department of natural resources, the whales got stuck near the harbour entrance, more popularly known as Hell's gates.

Despite the best efforts of authorities, the majority of the whales could not be saved and they died on the same spot where 350 pilot whales had lost their lives two years ago.

(With inputs from agencies)

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