New Zealand
Most of whales dead or dying
Rescuers have saved about a quarter of the 159 pilot whales beached on an island off New Zealand but were unable to help the rest which were dead or close to death.
At least 80 pilot whales are dead after a large pod of the mammals beached near Half Moon Bay on Stewart Island, about 30 km south of South Island.
The whales were found last Wednesday, but half had died by the time Department of Conservation staff found them and launched a rescue with volunteers.
The whales were stranded in an enclosed bay, which posed some difficulties in refloating.
Up to five small boats were to be placed between the rescued whales and the beach to keep them off the shore.
It was not clear why the whales beached there, but locals recalled beachings had happened in the same stretch of the island at least four times in the last 40 years.
The beach where the whales were stranded, The Neck, was only about two metres above sea level and there were suggestions the area was an old migratory route for the whales.
