Technology
31 pilot whales die in New Zealand's "death trap" beach
The cause of this stranding is not known.
Wellington: More than two dozen whales died in a mass stranding at Farewell Spit in Golden Bay—notorious of being a ‘death trap’ for whale deaths— wildlife rangers said Friday.
According to wild life officials, the pod was first spotted on Thursday, beached across three kilometres of Farewell Spit on the South Island.
Rescuers, however, managed to refloat five whales who had survived the night but just hours later, at least two had washed back up and had to be euthanized.
The cause of this stranding is not known.
Officials say while whale strandings are unfortunate, they are a natural phenomenon.
"It's not an uncommon experience here in Golden Bay, given the area's topography... it's known as one of the stranding hotspots," rescuer Dave Winterburn from the Department of Conservation stated.
He further added, "So we go through periods when we don't have any, and then we get a couple in a row - that's just the way things go".
Farewell Spit, a 26km (16 mile) hook of sand that protrudes into the sea, has been a frequent site of strandings, although scientists are unclear why.
One theory is that the spit creates a shallow seabed in the bay with extensive, kilometres-wide sand flats.
This can confuse whales' sonar navigation systems.
This beaching is just the latest in mass strandings at Farewell Spit.
In 2021, rescuers were able to save 28 long-finned pilot whales of a pod of about 50 who had stranded on the beach, but the rest died.
The worst stranding occurred in February 2017, when almost 700 whales beached, resulting in 250 deaths.
Moreover, the area has seen at least 11 pilot whale strandings in the past 15 years.
Pilot whales are known to be more prone to getting beached and are not considered endangered, although exact population numbers are not known.