New Zealand: About 100 Whales Dead After Mass Stranding

New Zealand: About 100 Whales Dead After Mass Stranding (Represntational Image)

New Delhi: Around 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins have died in the mass stranding on the remote Chatham Island, around 800km off New Zealand's east coast, said the officials on Wednesday.

Most of them were stranded during the weekend but rescue efforts have been hampered by the remote location of the island.

The New  Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC) has said that in total 97 pilot whales and three dolphins have died in the stranding, adding that they were notified of the incident on Sunday.

"Only 26 of the whales were still alive at this point, the majority of them appearing very weak, and were euthanized due to the rough sea conditions and almost certainty of there being great white sharks in the water which are brought in by a stranding like this," said DOC Biodiversity Ranger Jemma Welch.

The mass stranding is reasonably common on Chatham Island with up to 1,000 animals dying in a single stranding in 1918.

Also in late September, several hundred whales have died in shallow waters off the Australian coast in one of the world's biggest mass whale strandings.

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