Not one, not two, but hundreds of pilot whales ran aground on a New Zealand beach and died there. A sad and macabre scenario that appeared to the authorities who rushed to help the animals. Unfortunately there was nothing to be done
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Not one, not two, but hundreds of pilot whales ran aground on a New Zealand beach and died there. A sad and macabre scenario that appeared to the authorities who rushed to help the animals. Unfortunately there was nothing to be done.
It happened in Mason Bay, in Rakiura, on Stewart Island. It was a mass death. Department of Conservation (DOC) director of operations, Ren Leppens, explained that half were already dead when they were found.
"Unfortunately, the likelihood of being able to bring back living creatures to the sea was extremely low," were his words.
The news reached authorities last Saturday after a man camped in the area spotted the animals stranded during a walk.
Marine mammal stranding is unfortunately a very common occurrence on the coasts of New Zealand. The DOC intervenes about 85 times a year even if it is usually single animals.
It is not yet known why the pilot whales ended up on the New Zealand beach, finding their death. Possible causes could include: disease, navigation errors, a rapidly ebbing tide, or chases by a predator or extreme weather conditions. There may also have been multiple factors that contributed to the mass stranding.
Yet in the last days, it wasn't the only stranding.
A hundred miles from the beach where the 145 pilot whales found the mortem last Sunday, 10 ferese were found, very rare small cetaceans to be seen, belonging to the Delphinidae family. Two died, the others were saved and in these days a series of attempts are underway, with the hope of bringing them back to their sea.
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Francesca Mancuso
