The remaining 33 pilot whales from a pod of 99 that stranded on the New Zealand coast have restranded and been put down.
Just 17 whales survived the third mass stranding this summer.
The 33 whales, which were seen swimming to safety on Wednesday, were found again on Farewell Spit in Golden Bay on Thursday morning, Department of Conservation spokesman Nigel Mountford told AAP.
The distressed whales had restranded at the extremity of where volunteers could help. With gale-force winds forecast it was believed they would not survive another tidal cycle.
"They have been through five tidal cycles, been refloated twice and they have shown no inclination to swim away," Mr Mountford said.
They were shot by a team of four experts on Thursday morning.
If they were left alone it was possible the weakened creatures would swim away and cause a stranding alert somewhere else.
The dead whales will be dragged up into the dunes where they will be left to decompose.
The whales first stranded near the base of the spit on Monday. Survivors were refloated twice before the decision was made not to try a third refloating.
"It's disappointing for the volunteers who put their heart and soul into it," Mr Mountford said.
"There were a lot of overseas visitors. It was like a United Nations out there."
It was inevitable in any stranding that some of the pod would not survive, he said.
The good news was that 17 whales, which were apparently waiting for the rest of the pod, had struck out of the bay and were last seen swimming towards open water.
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