51 Whales dies in New Zealand: Second Incident in a Row

Guwahati: The New Zealand mass stranding of whales is creating waves in worldwide now as another incident of mass stranding and death of whales have come to light in another island of the nation. This is the second incident in less than a week’s time as the first incident took place just a few days ago when 145 whales died due to mass stranding and now 51 pilot whales are reported to have died in a mass stranding in another New Zealand island.

As stated by the Department of Conservation, up to 90 pilot whales beached themselves on the remote Chatham Islands on late Thursday. But on arriving at the location on Friday early morning, the staff could see up to 40 of the whales refloated themselves back to the sea. However, another 50 whales had died on the beach. The department added that one beached whale was found alive, but due to its poor condition, they had to euthanize it.

The Chatham Islands is located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand's main islands and is the dwelling zone of about 600 people.

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: Mass Stranding of Whales in New Zealand Beach; At Least 145 Whales Dead