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Up to 145 pilot whales have died after becoming stranded on a remote New Zealand beach in a "heartbreaking" tragedy.
Devastating footage shows some of the whales lying motionless and half-buried in the sand on the country's Stewart Island.
The creatures were discovered by a hiker camping in the area, who notified the Department of Conservation (DOC) on Saturday night.
The DOC said two pods of pilot whales were found stranded on the island, around 20 miles south of New Zealand's South Island.
Tragically, half of them were already dead.
A decision was then made to put the rest of the whales down due to their poor condition and the remote location, DOC Rakiura Operations Manager Ren Leppens said.