Almost 500 whales dead in one of New Zealand’s worst mass strandings

Wellington

New Zealand authorities on Wednesday confirmed 477 pilot whales died in two recent strandings in what they called one of the country’s largest events.

The strandings happened on the remote Chatham Islands group, some 840 kilometres off the eastern coast of New Zealand’s South Island. On Saturday 232 animals stranded on the main island, while a further 245 stranded on Monday on Pitt Island, 40 kilometres north.

Environmental charity Project Jonah said the strandings were one of the larger events in New Zealand.

“While we experience large mass strandings at Farewell Spit (at the top of the South Island), these events average 70-80 whales.” The charity said it undertakes rescue attempts wherever possible. However, rescues were not done on the Chatham Islands due to a small population, the inability to mobilize trained medics quickly, and the risk of predators close to shore which posed a threat to both rescuers and whales.

“Sadly, the whales that survived the initial stranding were euthanised,” Project Jonah said. The whales would be left to decompose naturally. Strandings are a complex phenomena, often with multiple contributing factors, Project Jonah said.

“It’s something that has been happening throughout recorded history and something that scientists are working to understand. We do know that the tight social bonds of pilot whale pod in particular are one of the reasons why such large numbers of these animals stranding together.”

Whale strandings are not uncommon on the Chatham Islands, with the largest event recorded in 1918 when over 1,000 animals died in a single stranding.