Fears of exploding whales as New Zealand clears carcasses

This picture taken on February 11, 2017 shows dead pilot whales lining the shore after a mass stranding at Farewell Spit.-AFP

WELLINGTON: The grim task of clearing hundreds of washed-up whale carcasses was under way in New Zealand Tuesday, with the beach closed over fears the bodies will fill with gas and explode as they decompose.

The sands at Farewell Spit where the nearly 700 pilot whales beached in one of the largest mass strandings ever in New Zealand were closed to the public after authorities declared the rotting bodies a health risk.