A pod of nine killer whales have died in New Zealand after a rare mass stranding on a South Island beach.
The orca - eight adults and one juvenile - beached themselves at Blue Cliffs Beach, near Tuatapere, late on Tuesday and were dead by the time potential rescuers reached them.
"In terms of endangered species, there's only 200 in the local population. Nine out of 200 - it's a bit of an impact on the population and it's unfortunate," said Department of Conservation spokesman Reuben Williams.
While pilot whale strandings at Farewell Spit at the other end of the South Island are relatively common, such mass strandings of orca are rare.
The carcass of one of the orca was removed for research while local Maori are consulted about what to do with the remaining mammals.
