107 whales die after mass stranding on NZ coast

Almaty. February 21. Kazakhstan Today - 107 whales have after mass stranding on New Zealand's coast, Kazakhstan Today reports.

A pod of 107 pilot whales stranded on New Zealand's south island have died, including 48 killed by authorities, reports said Monday. According to the Department of Conservation, two tourists reported the pod near the southern tip of the south island Sunday, with staff responding by immediately flying to the area, Kyodo News reported.

''We were quickly aware that it would be at least 10 to 12 hours before we could attempt to refloat them and that given the hot, dry conditions many more would soon perish,'' Brent Beaven, the biodiversity program manager, said.

With a storm warning issued for the area, officials deemed the conditions too dangerous to attempt to refloat the surviving whales and 48 were killed.

All the bodies are being left to decompose naturally along the remote beach.

Pilot whales are the most common species to be stranded along New Zealand shores. A pod of 82 stranded on the south island earlier this month. Ten of them died.

AFP also informed that mass strandings are common on the country's rugged coast. Earlier this month, 14 died after beaching near the South Island tourist city of Nelson and 24 perished last month near Cape Reinga in the country's far north.

Scientists are unsure why pilot whales beach themselves, although they speculate it may occur when their sonar becomes scrambled in shallow water or when a sick member of the pod heads for shore and others follow.

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