A group of environmentalists from New Zealand assured this Saturday that 215 pilot whales died after being stranded on a beach in the Chatham Islands, in the South Pacific.
“[…] While we always want surviving whales to be refloated, in this case it was not an option.”
According to the same group, most of the whales have already been found dead and the rest ended up being slaughtered, to “avoid further suffering.”
The mammals were found in a hard-to-reach area in the northwestern part of the Chatham Islands, where fewer than 800 people live.
In an email response, Department of Conservation communications adviser Brian McDonald said the decision to proceed with the killing of the whales was also related to the risk of attack by sharks, “both to humans and to wildlife.” the whales themselves. .
These whales and other marine mammals are often stranded off the coasts of southern Australia and New Zealand.
For the experts, consulted by the Spanish agency, this can occur due to diseases, navigation errors, tidal changes, extreme weather conditions or the persecution of predators.
Source: TSF
