Science · Ngāwi whale strandingNgawi whale stranding: 43 found as officials prepare burial with iwiWritten November 7, 2026 at 10:54 PM UTCWatchTranscript0:07Conservation officials have found forty-three whales along the coast and are0:10preparing to bury their remains.0:11They believe none survived.0:13The Department of Conservation is working with AOE local MR communities on the care0:17of the whales.0:17On November5, we reported residents' estimate of about fifty stranded whales and the0:22deaths of all four found alive.0:23Friday's update gives a more specific count and moves the response toward burial.0:27Why did these whales come ashore?0:29The whales were found along the NGW Mangatoto coast, near Cape Palliser at the0:33southern tip of New Zealand's North Island.0:35The search covered several kilometers of rocky shoreline exposed to Cook Strait0:39swells.0:40Some carcasses were swept out to sea.0:42That made counting difficult while rescuers were still trying to save the living0:45animals.0:46The early figures also covered different parts of the emergency.0:49A count on one beach couldn't capture everything happening along the affected0:52coastline.0:53Officials initially counted roughly twenty in the first pod.0:55An interim tally put the dead at at least thirty.0:58Residents estimated about fifty across the area.1:00The latest count is forty, three found, but officials haven't explained precisely1:04how the earlier figures fit together.1:06The Department of Conservation identified two pods during the response.1:09Its later count of forty, three covers the coastal stretch.1:12That number now replaces about fifty as the latest tally of animals found.1:16The change doesn't tell us that fewer whales died, or that any missing animals1:20survived.1:21Rescuers kept the living whales wet and cool as they tried to return them to the1:24sea.1:25Department of Conservation staff worked alongside Project Jonah rescuers and marine1:29medics, local Iwi and Odiwi volunteers.1:31Four whales were still alive that afternoon.1:37Two were refloated on the rising tide.1:40By Thursday evening, all four had died, including those returned to the water.1:44The rescue effort had failed to keep any of those four alive.1:47Their deaths were already known when we last reported the stranding.1:50Sharp rocks, loose gravel, and powerful swells constrained the work on shore.1:53Rescuers faced a remote, exposed coast.1:56Those conditions help explain the difficulty of reaching and helping the whales.2:00Scientists still haven't explained why the animals originally came ashore.2:03Pilot whales form strong social bonds and are vulnerable to mass strandings.2:07Whole groups can become trapped in shallow coastal water.2:09The Department of Conservation said this area hadn't recorded a mass stranding since2:13the1992nds.2:16Those facts provide context, but the cause of this event remains unknown.2:20The whale's remains are being treated as Tonga, meaning highly prized heritage.2:24Iwi are involved in their care and burial arrangements.2:27The Department of Conservation says it's working with them to manage that burial.2:30Preparations are underway.2:32Scientists use necropsies, examinations of dead animals, to investigate causes of2:36death.2:37Massey University's wild-based pathology undertakes that work for the Department of2:40Conservation.2:41No findings explaining this stranding have been announced.2:44Officials have now identified forty-three whales along the coast, with none believed2:47to have survived.2:48While work with Iwi focuses on caring for and burying their remains.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
