Twenty nine pilot whales die after becoming stranded on New Zealand beach

Department for Conservation says such strandings are ‘heartbreaking’

Officials said a group of 34 whales were found washed up together on shore (DOC Ranger Ellie Kerrisk)

Twenty nine pilot whales have died on a beach in New Zealand after being washed up on shore, according to authorities.

The Department for Conservation said a group of the mammals were found stranded on Farewell Spit, which sits on the north tip of the southern island.

Medics worked on the five pilot whales who were found alive and these were refloated in the ocean later on Thursday.

“It is a sad morning following the stranding of 34 pilot whales on Farewell Spit with 29 dead,” the department posted on Facebook on Thursday morning local time.

It said: “As heartbreaking as it is, whale strandings are a natural phenomenon. The cause of this stranding is not known, but Golden Bay is a high stranding area with Farewell Spit hooking around the northern entrance into the bay and forming extensive, many kilometres wide, intertidal sand flats.”

Other stranding events have taken place at the site over the years, including hundreds of whales ending up on its shore and being refloated in 2017.

At least three dozen whales died after becoming stranded at Farewell Spit in 2012.

At least 24 died in 2015 when a pod was washed up on shore, while conservation workers and volunteers, part of the Project Jonah marine conservation group, splashed those that remained alive with cold water to keep them cool in hot weather.

After workers refloated five pilot whales on Thursday, a newly-stranded whale was found on shore several kilometres away. Official said it was unclear whether this whale was one of the refloated group. Another whale was later found dead on the shore at the same site.