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Hundreds of whales have been stranded on remote islands off the east coast of New Zealand within a few days of each other.

Some 250 pilot whales have been spotted on Pitt Island, the second-largest island in the Chatham archipelago, about 500 miles east of the country's mainland.

During the weekend, 215 whales died in the northwest corner of the Chathams, with the remaining whales having to be put down after being given little chance of survival.

Project Jonah general manager Daren Grover told Stuff.co.nz that two mass strandings just days apart was "not unheard of", but the remoteness of the islands meant rescue attempts were difficult.

Usually mass whale strandings in New Zealand's waters result in a massive community effort, with hundreds of people coming to help.

But Pitt Island only has a population of about 40 people - not enough to tend to so many whales - and Mr Grover said the residents would be left "feel(ing) helpless".

The Department of Conservation has also previously said it does not refloat whales on the islands, due to the risk of sharks attacking the animals and their rescuers.

Massey University marine ecologist Professor Karen Stockin told the NZ Herald that the chances of survival among the Pitt Island whales was "nil to none".

"We're talking about harsh conditions, a very small number of staff and few residents: this really is a case of assessing if any are still alive and likely to end in euthanasia again," she said.

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Mass whale strandings have been seen on the Chathams before - the largest being in 1918, when an estimated 1,000 whales died.

More than 100 whales and dolphins also died after being stranded on the islands in November 2020.

It is not known exactly why whales beach themselves but environmental factors are among the possibilities - in some parts of the world the water is too shallow for whales to navigate because their echo-location ability is designed for deep water.

Mass strandings are also more common among highly social species, such as pilot whales - their herding instinct will mean the group stays together even if one member is sick or compromised, sometimes causing them to strand.

These bonds can be so strong that the sick whales usually need to be dealt with before the healthy ones are re-floated.

Otherwise the risk is that the healthy whales will hear the sick ones calling and will re-beach themselves to be together.