Large mass stranding off New Zealand leaves almost 100 pilot whales dead.
A large mass stranding of pilot whales occured on New Zealand's remote Chatham Islands on Sunday 11/22/2020.
In total 97 pilot whales and 3 dolphins were found deceased.
It is unknown what caused this mass stranding, or what causes them in general. However mass strandings are to some extent common on the Chatham Islands. The DOC. stated that in 1918 up to 1,000 whales were stranded on these islands, which was the largest recorded mass stranding in New Zealand. This also comes two months after one of the largest recorded incident that left 380 whales dead on a beach in Tasmania, Australia.
