Whales euthanized after stranding for third time

Jan 25, 2012, 22:03 GMT

Wellington - Thirty-three survivors of a pod of pilot whales that twice stranded on a remote New Zealand beach this week were euthanized Thursday after beaching themselves again overnight, news reports said.

Conservation Department local manager John Mason said they were showing significant signs of physical deterioration and stress, with many bleeding and blistering in the morning sun when volunteers who had refloated them twice discovered them on the shore again.

'We don't believe anything more could be achieved,' Mason was quoted as saying on the New Zealand Herald's website.

It brought the death tally to 82 of the pod of 99 whales who stranded on Farewell Spit, at the top of the South Island, on Monday. The other 17 refloated themselves on Monday night's high tide.

Kimberly Muncaster, chief executive of the Project Jonah whale protection society, said that up to 200 volunteers who worked all week to save the animals were devastated by the outcome.

'This is tragic news,' she said. '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.'

She said the volunteers, including veterinarians who had worked for three days in difficult conditions and with little sleep, 'gave everything they had' to try to save them.