Hundreds of whales lost their lives in a mass stranding in New Zealand.
Despite efforts of the rescuers in trying to refloat the stranded whales in a beach in New Zealand, hundreds of whales were left dead by the mass stranding.
Recently, a news report in CNN entailing about the death of hundreds of whales on a beach in New Zealand broke in. According to the report, not less than 250 whales were left dead by the mass stranding.
It is the third largest mass stranding in the history of New Zealand. Based on the report, the largest mass stranding of whales happened in 1918 on the islands of Chattam as 1,000 whales were stranded.
In 1985, 450 whales were stranded on a beach in Auckland. It is the second largest mass stranding in the country’s history.
According to the report, the statement of the Department of Conservation stated that there were 400 whales found stranded on Farewell Spit in Golden Bay. Out of the 400, 250 of them were already dead.
50 out of more than 100 whales refloated by the rescuers in the mid-morning were able to get back to the sea according to the news report.
However, Department of Conservation Community Ranger Kath Inwood expressed that after five hours when the whales were freed, another 80 to 90 of them were found re-stranded again in the same area.
Meanwhile, Inwood told CNN that there were around three to four hundred people who arrived to help the animals. She added that lots of people residing in the area are already equipped on how to keep the whales “comfortable” as the stranding usually happens.
Based on the news, for the safety of the volunteers considering that they are around the stressed animals, for overnight, the work will be stopped.