29 pilot whales dead after stranding in New Zealand

By Islamuddin Sajid

ANKARA (AA) - Twenty-nine pilot whales have died after a mass stranding at South Island in New Zealand, said an official on Friday.

On Facebook, the Conservation Department said that out of 34 stranded whales, five of them refloated at morning.

"It is a sad morning following the stranding of 34 pilot whales on Farewell Spit with 29 dead," said the department.

Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit located at the northern end of the Golden Bay of South Island.

"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," said the department.

Last month, more than 60 pilot whales were stranded at Farewell Spit and 28 of them died.