At least 15 pilot whales have died after beaching themselves near New Zealand's South Island city of Nelson overnight Wednesday.
Another 18 were at risk of stranding near Farewell Spit in Golden Bay and were being monitored by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
DOC spokeswoman Trish Grant said a pod of six whales stranded overnight -- three died and three were refloated on Wednesday morning.
Shortly after a larger pod of whales were discovered about 2 kmup the beach and 12 to 15 of those had died and another 12 to 15 were milling around close to the shore.
Currently 10 DOC staff and three to four members of the public were monitoring a group of about 18 whales, which were about 1 km off Taupata Point south of Farewell Spit, she said.
Rescuers would get in the water to try to deter the whales from the shore if necessary, Grant said.
Efforts may be hampered as the sea was quite rough with strong winds, which meant a boat being used to watch the whales may not be able to stay in the water much longer, she said.
The whales were about 4-6 meters long.
About two years ago, 129 whales stranded in the same area and 25 of them died.
Source: Xinhua
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