Guwahati: An incident, as heartbreaking and disappointing as anything can be, has got to happen in which as many as 145 whales have lost its lives on being stranded in a remote beach in New Zealand. Such mass stranding of whales and eventually their death is a rare view and is a matter of attention for the world.
The authorities were informed about incident of mass stranding by a hiker on Saturday evening. But by the time the authorities reach the spot, half of the whales were already dead. As stated by New Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC), the remaining animals were later euthanized.
Ren Leppens, a Stewart Island operations manager for the DOC states that the remoteness of the location of mass whale stranding and the serious condition of the whales have made it even tough to save them. The decision of euthanizing the whales, as described by the manager, is "heart-breaking."
He added that there were very low chances of re-float of the remaining whales. The whales could not be saved as the location of the beach was quite remote, moreover, there was a dearth of nearby personnel and the whales' deteriorating condition left the only way for the DOC and that was to euthanize.
The DOC, after euthanizing the whales, has announced to have worked with a local Maori tribe for conducting the "next steps" of burying the dead. As the Maori groups are often involved in dismantling and burying the remains of beached whales and follows their indigenous traditions in the process, these dead whales will also be buried in the same process.
The reason behind the stranding of dolphins and whales is not found yet and the reasons are being doubted as "sickness, navigational error, geographical features, a rapidly falling tide, being chased by a predator, or extreme weather," as stated in the DOC's statement.
Before this as well, around 400 pilot whales were buried in Golden Bay beach that died due to mass stranding and this was the third largest mass stranding in the country's history. The largest of all had taken place in 1918, with approximately 1,000 whales being stranded and died on Chatham Islands.
Also read: International News