Expert says two recent whale strandings at either end of New Zealand are not related

The Department of Conservation is attempting to refloat eight pygmy whales stranded in the Far North at high tide early this afternoon.

This comes after 145 pilot whales died on Stewart Island over the weekend. 

Massey University’s Dr Karen Stockin talked to TVNZ’s Breakfast about the reason for these two strandings which she says are not related.

Ms Stokin says New Zealand is an international hotspot for whales, "Three quarters of the world's species of marine mammals live in our waters."

She says pilot whales stranding is a common occurrence.

“It’s historical… …. We see these strandings in our database dating back to the 1800s.”

Stewart Island has had a lot of natural seismic activity in recent days, which the expert says can result in more strandings.

“Sometimes we can see a spike in these events during natural seismic activities.”

However she says the pygmy killer whales stranding is a very rare and unusual event.

“It’s not a species you typically find stranding in New Zealand waters, it is not something we are used to.”

Ms Stokin says they haven’t figured out why these pygmy killer whales have stranded.

“We usually wouldn’t find them this close to the shoreline at all.”