DOC staff, iwi and volunteers are battling difficult conditions as they try to rescue a group of whales stranded on Ninety Mile Beach in the Far North.
Joel Lauterbach, northern North Island operations director for the Department of Conservation, said 12 to 15 pygmy killer whales had died so far, while an unknown number had been refloated.
The whales, which could grow up to 2.6 metres long, were scattered across several kilometres of beach.
They were roughly 10km north of Hukatere, a key access point on Ninety Mile Beach/Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe.
Lauterbach said DOC was first notified of the stranding about 7pm on Thursday.
Staff rushed to the site but conditions were challenging and hazardous, due to an incoming tide and fading light, and they withdrew when it was no longer safe to continue the response.
Conditions remained challenging today, he said.
DOC was working closely with Far North iwi Ngāti Kuri, Ngāi Takoto and Te Aupōuri.
The dead whales were being moved for burial and tikanga processes were underway.
Lauterbach said the department’s immediate focus was working with iwi and gathering information to understand the full circumstances of the stranding.
It’s not the first time pygmy killer whales have come to grief on Ninety Mile Beach.
A dozen of the rare whales stranded in 2018, also in difficult conditions, with eight survivors transported to the calmer waters of Rārawa Beach on the opposite coast.
One only survived the refloating attempt, despite a massive effort by DOC staff and volunteers.