74 pilot whales stranded on New Zealand beach

At least 25 out of 74 pilot whales died on Wednesday after stranding themselves on a remote northern New Zealand beach, officials said.

This is the second mass stranding in the area in two months. The Department of Conservation said a pod of 74 pilot whales were found around midday at Spirits Bay, 320 kilometres northwest of Auckland. DoC Staff counted 74 whales spread across the beach, 49 were alive, 25 had already died and another 50 were swimming just off-shore.

Twenty-five of the animals were already dead when rescuers arrived at the beach. (Some reports say that at least 40 animals died).

Volunteers from Far North Whale Rescue, DoC officers and members of the local Maori community said they would stay overnight at the beach struggling to keep the survivors alive so that to re-float them the following day.

In mid-August at nearby Karikari Beach, a pod of 58 pilot whales stranded. Despite hundreds of helpers fighting to save them, just nine were eventually floated off the beach and returned to the sea, AP reported.