A beached southern bottle-nose whale in Maraetai Bay, Port Waikato has died this evening despite rescue efforts.
Project Jonah posted about the rarely seen whale's death on its Facebook page just after 7pm this evening.
"Sadly, the Southern Bottlenose Whale which stranded earlier today in Port Waikato, has passed away.
"Thank you to the Department of Conservation, Fire and Emergency Volunteers, Project Jonah medics and members of the public who gave it their all.
"There have only been two recorded incidents involving Southern Bottlenose Whales in New Zeland, in the last ten years. Samples have been collected by the Department of Conservation in the hope that we can learn more about this rarely seen species," the post reads.
The whale was stranded at Maraetai Bay and there were hopes it could have been refloated with the tide.
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