A remote stretch of New Zealand shoreline has become the site of yet another grim whale stranding. Authorities say a pod of 43 pilot whales is believed dead after washing up along several miles of coast near Cape Palliser, at the southern tip of the country’s North Island, reports the Independent. When the whales were first discovered on Thursday morning, at least 20 of them were already beached and only four remained alive.
Those survivors didn’t make it through the day, according to conservation charity Project Jonah. Reuters reports that two whales were successfully refloated, though it’s not clear if they were among the four original survivors that eventually perished. “It’s horrible,” one local tells Radio New Zealand. “The ones that are alive are on their last breath.”
New Zealand’s Department of Conservation is now working with local Maori tribes on burial plans for the whales, which are described as taonga, or “treasured heritage.” Pilot whales are known for mass strandings, though the causes remain unclear. The DOC notes that more than 5,000 whales and dolphins have been stranded along the nation’s coast since 1840, per the Guardian. Officials point to shallow, sloping waters; tricky coastal conditions; and the animals’ tight social bonds as likely factors.