The orca that died this morning after being stranded in Taranaki has been buried.
The whale died despite rescue efforts overnight by officials and local residents.
Local iwi performed a karakia on Patea Beach where the beached orca died.
The female killer whale stranded herself yesterday evening, causing a late-night recovery effort by the Taranaki community.
The plan was to use a large digger to create a trench in front of the whale, using the incoming tide to flood the trench and allow her to float and make her way back out to sea.
But Department of Conservation staff and volunteers had to abandon their plan because of dangerous sea conditions.
Resident Verna Bourke, whose son-in-law tried to save the whale by carving a trench with his digger, says the whale was stuck in a remote part of the beach.
Newshub.
