After Mass Stranding Nearly 100 Whales Dead In New Zealand

Around 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins died in a mass stranding on the isolated Chatham Islands.

According to the CNBC report, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) stated that in total 97 pilot whales and three dolphins died in the stranding in Chatham Island which is about 800 Kilometres off New Zealand’s east coast. The officials revealed that most of the dolphins were stranded during the weekends, but the distant location of the island has thwarted the rescue attempts. 

Ranger Jemma Welch, DOC Biodiversity Ranger said that only 26 of the whales were still alive at that point of time and the majority of them resembling very weak. The dolphins were euthanized due to the reason for the rough sea circumstances and almost certainty of there being great white sharks in the water which is brought in by a stranding like this.

Although the Mass stranding are very common on the Chatham Islands and around 1,000 animals died in a single stranding in 1918. The Mass whale stranding has happened throughout recorded modern history. And till now the Marine biologists can’t find out the reason behind the Mass Stranding.

In late September, several hundred whales died in shoal waters off the Australian coast in one of the world’s biggest mass whale stranding.