Most of About 50 Pilot Whales Stranded Near Cape Palliser in New Zealand Have Died

About 50 pilot whales were found stranded among rocks on the rugged Ngawi coastline near Cape Palliser, at the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The whales had come ashore overnight.

By Thursday afternoon, the Department of Conservation (DOC) had confirmed two pods. Roughly 20 animals were on the beach in the first pod, four of them still alive, and two were refloated on the high tide.

Rescuers and marine medics from Project Jonah worked alongside DOC staff, local iwi and Ngawi volunteers to keep the surviving whales wet and cool.

Despite those efforts, most of the pod died. By Thursday evening, the last four survivors were also dead, including the two that had been refloated.

Residents counted close to 50 whales, while DOC initially confirmed about 20. Rescuers warned that some carcasses had already been swept out to sea, complicating the search along several kilometres of rocky coast.

Pilot whales are highly social and vulnerable to mass strandings, which can trap entire pods in shallow coastal water.

DOC said the area had not recorded a mass stranding since the 1990s. The cause of this stranding has not been established.