33 whales shot in New Zealand after rescues failed

Yahoo get that stupid JC Penney bullshift out of the middle of the screen.

As a volunteer veterinarian with the North Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network, I have responded to countless strandings - none of which had a happy ending. Pilot whales, which are actually dolphins, are extremely altruistic and a few years back there was a mass stranding on the Outer Banks and we proved via tissue samples that the pod stranded after they were harmed by a sonar test by the US Navy. Yet there have been other strandings where most involve suspect one injurred or ill whale drifted in to shore and the healthy members of the pod came in with the unhealthy one to stay together as a group. It's sad, but romantic.

To shoot a pilot whale to death... euthanasia would've been a more humane method.

very sad

Gods graceful creatures lose their way sometimes, just like his smaller creatures......

The fossil record shows that whales have been doing this for millions of years. We can't say why they do it and neither can they.

So sad for the whales, perhaps they were sick. Many thanks for the attempts of the staff and volunteers to save these animals.

I can think of someone that could have saved them, Rosie O'Donnell! Next time this happens Rosie O'Donnell should get in the water and swim out to sea. The whales will think she is their leader and follow her.....

Very sad.

solar flares throw navigation systems way off....

Hard to type w/ teary eyes. Poor whales.

what is going on in our oceans that so many have beached themselves. i feel for the people who had to shoot them.

I think its the most humane way to put them down. otherwise they would starve to death? or get eaten slowly by some predator.

How do you shoot a whale? Think about the size of a bullet versus a whale brain (or whatever they shot). Seems like that would cause a lot of suffering before death unless it was a bazooka. Inquiring minds want to know....

maybe they just got sick of swimming through oil and garbage and radiation all the time.

They beach themselves right around the same time the strongest solar flares in 5 years hit earth and throw off the magnetic fields? Coincidence?

Its just the natural order of things. These whales and other fish all around the world beach themselves on purpose. Its their way of population control. But for some reason humans just cant get in their thick heads that this is normal. DAH !!!

even a dog will walk off or find a solitary place to die.. maybe that's what they came to do and you put them back. i understand species preservation but sometimes i think we interfere too much

Sad...compassionate...but sad....it's a life and death struggle, daily, in the animal world~~not a breeze for most of mankind,either.

It's a sham, they tried to save them, But WHY did the Whales beach themselves in the first place, there is a reason we need to understand.

I am no bleeding heart but I fail to see the humor in many of the posts.
Where has your humanity gone?