More than 125 whales die in New Zealand strandings

At Farewell Spit, west of the South Island tourist town of Nelson, 105 long-finned pilot whales died in a mass beaching on Saturday, while 21 pilot whales died Sunday at a beach on the east coast of the North Island.

Both areas have a history of whale strandings.

Conservation department official Hans Stoffregen said none of the stranded pod at Farewell Spit could be saved, the Nelson Mail newspaper reported.

"They were in bad shape. By the time we got there two-thirds of them had already died. We had to euthanise the rest," he said.

"It was horrible but nothing could have been done to save them. It was the most humane thing to do."

The whales had been out of the water for a long time "and they were very distressed. You could see the pain and suffering in their eyes."