Nearly 100 whales and 3 dolphins dead in mass stranding in New Zealand
A total of 97 whales and 3 dolphins were killed in the stranding about which the New Zealand Department of Conservation came to know at 12:30 pm on Sunday.
- World News
- 2 min read
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A total of 97 whales and 3 dolphins were killed in the stranding about which the New Zealand Department of Conservation came to know at 12:30 pm on Sunday, November 22. As per an official statement released by the Department of Conservation, the Biodiversity Ranger Jemma Welch said that it was the remote location and power outage that made it difficult to contact the people. She further revealed that it was about 3pm when the team of rangers arrived at the site at Waitangi West Beach.
Mass stranding in New Zealand
Jemma said, “Only 26 of the whales were still alive at this point, the majority of them appearing very weak, and were euthanized due to the rough sea conditions and almost certainty of there being great white sharks in the water which are brought in by a stranding like this”. This is not the first such incident. Mass strandings are common in this region. The release said that two more whales had stranded by November 23 due to which DOC staff was asked to make a follow-up visit to the site and euthanize it.
Scientists concerned about whales and dolphins
In a separate development, during the month of October, over 350 marine mammal scientists from 40 countries have expressed 'grave concerns' over the extinction risk to whales, dolphins and porpoises. The scientists have signed an open letter calling for global action to save and protect the species of cetaceans at risk of extinction. They have put down a list of several species, subspecies and distinct populations while labelling them as 'endangered', 'critically endangered' and 'vulnerable'.
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Calling the issue 'critical', the marine experts state that not addressing the problem will have an adverse impact on the whale population in the 'over-exploited and human-dominated seas and major river systems'. The experts warned that 3 species of marine mammals were at high risk of extinction. While calling it a 'bleak outlook' for the species they said that 'too little' was done and 'too late'.