NBC News More than 650 pilot whales had beached themselves along a New Zealand beach in two separate mass strandings over the past few days.

NBC News The number of whales beached on Farewell Spit has now passed 650

NBC News The scale of this stranding had come as a shock to local people and rescuers.

MSN News When high tide came, volunteers did manage to refloat several dozen of the surviving whales, while others remained beached.

Reuters Rescuers and locals are struggling to try and save a pod of beached whales which became trapped in a mangrove swamp during low tide. Read the full story: http://reut.rs/1UWKyxL

Mashable At least two of the corpses of the five sperm whales have graffiti on them.

Brandon Hanson Good evening IFLscience folks. I recently read an article on your site about sperm whales beached in Europe. In the article you mentioned they were vandalized and you mentioned the content of said vandalization. While this typically wouldn't be an is Read more ... sue there are some good theories why these whales get beached. By mentioning a nuclear disaster with the death of whales you are inadvertently leading people to believe that this is the cause. Both you and I know this most certainly was not the cause. I ask a little more discretion with your content. A simple "the whales were desecrated by various environmentalists" could have replaced two paragraphs in your article. Outside of this you guys effing rock! Keep it up!!

NBC News Volunteers rushed to the aid of 14 pilot whales that beached themselves in Nova Scotia, Canada. http://nbcnews.to/1ILXyjH

Alex White http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-more-than-20-dead-whales-found-beached-in-chile-2015-5?IR=T I Would love to know how such a thing would happen.

Washington Post Beached whales are not only in danger of dehydration, they can suffer severe sunburn as well.