Whales die after stranding on Stewart Island beach

PHRED ROBBINS

BEACHED: A dead pilot whale lies on a remote Stewart Island beach. It was one of 28 stranded yesterday.

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Twenty-eight pilot whales are dead after a stranding at a remote Stewart Island beach yesterday.

Department of Conservation acting southern islands area manager Mark Townsend said the whales were discovered by a passing tramper about 9am.

The tramper reported the stranding to DOC staff using a satellite phone.

The stranding happened on the remote West Ruggedy Beach, north of Mason Bay.

By the time staff arrived about an hour later by helicopter, they found the whales scattered across a 600m to 700m stretch of the beach.

It was not known how long the whales had been there or why they stranded.

Nine whales were already dead when DOC staff arrived and there was no option but to euthanise the remaining 19, Mr Townsend said.

DOC biodiversity manager Brent Bevan, who was one of those at the scene, said wild seas and 30-to- 40-knot onshore westerly winds made it impossible to mount a rescue effort to try to save the survivors.

"They were in reasonably good health when we got there but the weather conditions were so bad it would have been far too dangerous to try anything.

"If there was a chance we could have saved them, we would have given it a go – but not in those conditions," Mr Bevan said.

The staff could have either stood by and watched the whales die or euthanise them to prevent prolonged suffering, he said.

"It's not an easy choice to make but it was dictated by the circumstances."

The whales would otherwise die by drowning or sunburn – either could cause great suffering, Mr Bevan said.

Of the whales, one was a calf, a few were adolescents and the rest adults, he said.

The carcasses would be left where they beached because it was such a remote location.

"They will decompose quite quickly."

There was no evidence of more whales swimming near the coastline, Mr Bevan said.

Whale strandings are not uncommon on Stewart Island, with the previous stranding happening in 2003, when almost 160 died.

- © Fairfax NZ News