More than 140 pilot whales have stranded and died on a remote beach in New Zealand.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) said it was alerted to the mass stranding on Saturday evening, and that half of the whales had already died by the time they were found.
"Sadly, the likelihood of being able to successfully re-float the remaining whales was extremely low," DOC Raikura operations manager Ren Leppens said.
"The remote location, lack of nearby personnel and the whales' deteriorating condition meant the most humane thing to do was to euthanise.
"However, it's always a heartbreaking decision to make."
DOC also said a group of 10 pygmy killer whales stranded at another beach over the weekend, while there were two other cases of individual whales becoming beached.
In a statement, DOC said the cases were "unlikely to be related", but that strandings were a "relatively common" occurrence in New Zealand.
