Twenty one whales have been found rotting after a stranding on the remote northen shore of Aotea Harbour. The Aotea harbour is on the west coast located between Raglan and Kawhia Harbours. Although the whales were first noticed on the 18th June they had beached a few days before that. The Department of Conservation and local iwi have investigated the beaching. Steve O’Shea from DoC said that although the whales had begun to bloat, they appeared to be thin and DoC will be investigating the possibility that the whales were hungry. The whales will be left to decompose.