33 whales stranded again off New Zealand, to be killed

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10236569-33-whales-stranded-again-off-new-zealand-to-be-killed

Jan. 25, 2012

Some 33 long-finned pilot whales that were refloated Wednesday off a New Zealand beach with the help of volunteers became stranded again Thursday and will have to be euthanized, officials told TVNZ.

“Unfortunately the stranded whales are now also further along the Spit and on the extreme boundary of our ability to reach them for another rescue attempt,” Kimberly Muncaster, CEO of the marine-mammal rescue group Project Jonah, told the TV station.

"The Department of Conservation has decided they will have to be put down."

John Mason, a Department of Conservation official, said the whales were physically deteriorating and in distress.

[...]

Pilot whales grow to about 20 feet, and large strandings are common during the New Zealand summer. Experts describe Farewell Spit as a whale trap due to the way its shallow waters seem to confuse whales and diminish their ability to navigate.

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