Nearly 500 Pilot Whales Found Dead on New Zealand Beaches
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The whales had beached themselves, officials said, after having their location systems confused by sloping sandy beaches while hunting. "They rely on their echolocation and yet it doesn't tell them that they are running out of water,” said one official. "They come closer and closer to shore and become disoriented.”
Around 477 pilot whales were found dead after they had beached themselves on New Zealand’s remote Chatham Islands. The Department of Conservation stated that nearly half of the whales had beached themselves on Friday at Tupuangi Beach, and the other half had beached themselves on Monday at Waihere Bay.
The Department of Conservation said that the whales’ deaths were “natural occurrences” but that the situation is “still sad and difficult for those helping.” According to Daren Grover, the general manager of a nonprofit group which helps to rescue whales, none of the whales could be refloated—a process in which conservationists keep whales cool and wet on land before carrying them back to the ocean using tarpaulins or large floating platforms—because there was a shark presence in the water.
Whales which were not already dead had to be euthanized as a result.
Pilot whales are the most inquisitive cetacean species I've seen. The youngsters often play upside down while the adults tend to spyhop quite a lot taking in their surroundings visually. It's nice when they take an interest in you too! #pilotwhale #PhD #AcademicChatter pic.twitter.com/tGbdiXKdfp
— Seán O'Callaghan (@KerrysWildside) July 26, 2022
Mass pilot whale strandings are common in New Zealand, and while scientists aren’t entirely sure what causes the whales to beach themselves, they believe that the animals' echolocation can draw them closer to hunting grounds, but fails to tell them when they are running out of water.
"They come closer and closer to shore and become disoriented. The tide can then drop from below them and before they know it, they're stranded on the beach,” said Grover. Pilot whales are also social animals, so they may strand themselves collectively as a result of coming to the call of an injured friend.
Just two weeks ago, another 200 pilot whales died after stranding themselves on Australia’s island state of Tasmania. Rescuers were able to save at least 32 pilot whales from the mass stranding.
Incredible scenes here on Tasmania’s west coast, with the surviving whales being taken to deeper waters @abcnews pic.twitter.com/n7wPhp5o6l
— Monte Bovill (@MonteBovill) September 22, 2022
"Nature is a great recycler and all the energy stored within the bodies of all the whales will be returned to nature quite quickly," said Grover, who explained that the whale carcasses will not be buried or brought out to sea, but will be left to decompose instead.
