Hundreds of Whales Die on New Zealand Beaches

Hundreds of Whales Die on New Zealand Beaches

Hundreds of pilot whales died this week on the beaches of the Chatham Islands, about 800 kilometers east of New Zealand.

It is the second large stranding² of whales in recent weeks. About 200 pilot whales died in the Australian state of Tasmania in late September.

New Zealand officials said the islands are home to about 600 people. Rescue groups went to help but they could not get the whales back in the water. Many of them died naturally but others were euthanized because they could not be saved. At least 477 whales are believed to have died.

New Zealand's Department of Conservation wrote about the stranded³ whales on Facebook.

"These events are tough, challenging situations," the department wrote. "Although they are natural occurrences⁴, they are still sad and difficult for those helping⁵."

Daren Grover works for a group called Project Jonah that works to rescue whales. He called the event a "heartbreaking" loss.

He said the islands' distance from New Zealand and the presence of sharks in the water made it hard to help the whales.

Dave Lundquist is an adviser⁶ for New Zealand's Department of Conservation. He said the department does not try to save whales on those islands because the sharks make it unsafe for both people and the whales.

He called euthanasia "the kindest option."

Grover said the Chatham Islands are a place where whales go to find food. As the whales get closer to land, however, they can become confused.

Strandings of large groups of whales are common in the summer, scientists say.

Grover said the whales use a system called echolocation to find food and avoid barriers underwater. But as they get closer to land they can lose their place if the water level changes quickly.

"Before they know it," Grover said, "they're stranded on the beach."

Grover said the whale bodies will not be moved. They will decompose⁷ naturally.

"Nature is the great recycler," he said.

Words in This Story

strand¹ –v. to cause something that is normally in the water to be stuck on land

euthanize –v. to kill to prevent suffering

challenging –adj. something that is difficult

option –n. a possible choice

confused –adj. unable to understand a situation

decompose –n. to slowly break down into a simpler form through a natural process

recycle –v. to make something new from something that has been used or worn out

1 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

2 stranding   

n.（船只）搁浅v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The airport had to be closed, stranding tourists. 机场被迫关闭，造成游客滞留。 来自辞典例句
• The stream of history had changed course away from him, stranding him in failure. 历史潮流已经改变方向，与他背道而驰，使他陷于失败之中。 来自辞典例句

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 occurrences   

n.发生( occurrence的名词复数 )；出现；事件；发生的事

参考例句：

• Newspapers record the chief occurrences of the day. 报纸报道了当天发生的大事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• None of these occurrences should be considered as errors. 这些现象没有一个应该被看做错误。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。