Mumbai: New Zealand’s conservation office on Wednesday confirmed that an estimated 240 pilot whales that became stranded on remote Pitt Island in the Pacific Ocean are now dead, just days after 215 whales died after becoming beached on nearby Chatham Island.
The whales were put to death because, in addition to the logistical challenges on the island’s population of less than 100, there was a risk that sharks might eat them if they were refloated into the ocean. Daren Grover, general manager at charity Project Jonah, which deals with stranded whales, said there were also not enough people in the area to help with refloating. About 800 people live on the larger Chatham Island, with 40 people living on Pitt Island.
Sadly, there has been a second mass stranding of pilot whales on the Chatham Islands, this time on Rangiauria/Pitt Island, about 40km south from the stranding over the weekend.
Reports suggest up to 250 whales in this second stranding event. pic.twitter.com/WgrFSOrtE8
— Project Jonah (@ProjectJonah) October 10, 2022
Dave Lundquist, a marine technical advisor for the Department of Conservation told the media, “Though it is never made lightly, in this situation it is the most compassionate course of action. The risk of shark attacks on both humans and whales prevents the conservation department from attempting to refloat any whales in the area,”
On the Chatham Islands archipelago, which is located around 840 kilometers off the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, a pod of whales has been discovered. Pitt Island and Chatham Island are the only inhabited islands in the archipelago. The Saturday stranding on Chatham Island also resulted in the death of any remaining pilot whales.
Nearby New Zealand and neighboring Australia are hot spots for mass whale strandings owing to large colonies of pilot whales living in the deep oceans surrounding the two island nations.
The Chatham Islands recorded its largest ever stranding in 1918 when more than 1,000 animals died in a single event.
Pilot whales – which can grow to more than six meters (20 feet) long – are highly sociable, so they may follow pod-mates who stray into danger.
Last month, almost 200 pilot whales died on a beach in Australia’s remote western Tasmania. State wildlife services managed to refloat 44 of the mammals.
(Vinayak)