A mass burial will be held on Banks Peninsula for fifteen whales which died after stranding at Port Levy on Sunday.
Locals noticed around 50 pilot whales had stranded themselves around 6:30am Sunday.
They, along with the Department of Conservation, City Council staff and project Jonah volunteers spent the day trying to save them.
Project Jonah CEO Kimberly Muncaster says while fifteen whales died, they were able to re-float 35.
She says autopsies will be carried out on the whales on Monday so they can try to figure out exactly why they died.
There were different reasons for whale strandings she says, and scientists would try and throw light on what had occurred this time around.
Muncaster says the muddy bay may have made sonar navigation difficult for the mammals, some may have been sick or they may have been chasing prey.
Meanhwile, the surviving whales appear to have made it safely back to sea, with those monitoring the situation reporting no sign of them on Monday morning.
Muncaster says the whales were swimming strongly and directly out to sea and it was a huge relief to find none had returned to the bay on Monday morning.
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