On the morning of February 10, 2017, more than 416 pilot whales were discovered on a crescent of land on New Zealand's South Island called Farewell Spit in Golden Bay at the top of the South Island, with more than 70% dead by dawn. An additional 240 whales stranded themselves late on February 11. This brought the total number of stranded pilot whales to 656, making this the second-largest whale-stranding event ever recorded.