Oh Shit! Now The Whales Are Dying Off!!

Department of Conservation (DOC) staff have killed 10 pilot whales which survived the stranding of a pod of 24 in Parengarenga harbour in the Far North.

"If we felt there was a real chance we could have successfully rescued them, we would have," DOC area manager Jonathan Maxwell said.

"Sadly, the current conditions were against these animals. The kindest thing was to end their suffering".

Mr Maxwell said the pod were spread over 150 metres in mud, rocks and mangroves and had been trapped in the shallow water and mud for some time. The surviving 10 were in poor shape.

"High tide isn't until 11pm tonight, and we have deteriorating weather conditions around the coast," Mr Maxwell said.

"This meant the chance of successfully refloating the whales was virtually nil".

The difficult decision was made to euthanase the whales.

[link to www.nzherald.co.nz]