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Hundreds of whales stranded on New Zealand beach

WELLINGTON: More than 400 whales were stranded on a New Zealand beach on Friday, with most of them dying quickly as frustrated volunteers desperately raced to save the survivors.

The Department of Conservation said that It was one of the largest mass beachings recorded in New Zealand, where strandings are relatively common.

The Department of Conservation regional manager Andrew Lamason said that 416 pilot whales swam ashore at Farewell Spit in the Golden Bay region, on the northern tip of South Island.

About 70 percent had perished by the time wildlife officers reached the remote location and about 500 volunteers pitched in to get the remaining whales offshore.

He said that by late afternoon the majority of the 100-plus whales that were refloated at high tide had swam back ashore. In the past, whales that repeatedly re-strand have been euthanized after becoming steadily weaker with every attempt to return them to the sea.

It was the third largest stranding  in New Zealand. The biggest occurred when 1,000 whales beached at the remote Chatham Islands in 1918, followed by 450 that washed ashore in Auckland in 1985.