<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Abut 500 pilot whales have died in mass strandings on New Zealand's remote Chatham Islands, the government said Tuesday after ruling out a rescue effort in the area's shark-filled waters.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Two "super pods" of the dolphin-related cetaceans beached on two islands in the remote chain and survivors were euthanised, according to the Department of Conservation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">On Friday, 250 beached pilot whales were found at Chatham Island, and then three days later another 240 were reported on Pitt Island, the government said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The locations -- far from the New Zealand mainland -- made a rescue operation impossible, authorities said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Due to the risk of shark attack to both humans and the whales, the surviving whales were euthanised by our trained team to prevent further suffering," Dave Lundquist, a government technical marine advisor, told AFP.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This decision is never taken lightly, but in cases like this it is the kindest option."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bodies will be left to decompose naturally on site.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mass strandings are not uncommon on the Chatham Islands, where the largest recorded beaching involved an estimated 1,000 whales in 1918.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2017, there was a mass stranding of almost 700 pilot whales.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scientists do not fully understand why mass strandings occur, but some researchers think pods go off track after feeding too close to shore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pilot whales -- which can grow to more than six metres (20 feet) long -- are highly sociable, so they may follow pod-mates who stray into danger.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Around 300 animals beach themselves annually in New Zealand, according to official figures, and it is not unusual for groups of between 20 and 50 pilot whales to run aground.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But numbers can run into the hundreds when a "super pod" is involved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last month, almost 200 pilot whales died on a beach in Australia's remote western Tasmania. State wildlife services managed to refloat 44 of the mammals. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>