Whale stranding

All 38 pilot whales stranded on a remote West Coast river mouth near Haast have now died. Twelve were still alive on Thursday morning, but dangerous sea conditions meant an attempt to refloat them could not be made safely. Department of Conservation operations manager Wayne Costello said the decision to euthanise the remaining whales was made in consultation with local iwi Makaawhio, whale rescue charity Project Jonah, and other whale stranding experts.

Sex with student

A female English teacher who had sex with a 16-year-old student has been struck off the teachers register. The Hasting Boys’ High teacher admitted the sexual relationship and was immediately stood down and later resigned. Her registration was cancelled by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal in a decision released on Thursday. Principal Rob Sturch received screenshots of sexually suggestive messages between the teacher and a year 12 student on June 23, 2017. When confronted, the teacher admitted she was ‘‘stupid’’ and had ‘‘let everyone down’’.

Officer resigns

Police are tight-lipped about the sudden resignation of a top officer. Inspector Tania Baron of Dunedin told Stuff on Tuesday she had resigned from her job of more than 20 years. She would not comment further. It is understood she has signed a confidentiality agreement. In 2015, Baron was the first woman to become southern district road policing manager.

Fatal crashes

A man died when the ute he was driving collided head-on with a truck on State Highway 1 south of Cambridge at 4.25am on Thursday. And a person died after a crash in east Auckland, involving two vehicles, about 1.15pm on Thursday.

Paua targeted

Two men caught flouting the postquake shellfish ban along the Kaiko¯ura coast have been fined. Neville Allistar Moka, 39, was caught taking pa¯ua between June and July last year while he was working on the Kaiko¯ura coast. Moka, a painter from Nelson, pleaded guilty to one charge of fishing in an area closed under emergency measures when he appeared in the Nelson District Court last week. He was fined $1500. Another Nelson painter, who was sharing accommodation with Moka, 49-year-old Benjamin Beale, pleaded guilty to the same charge when he appeared in the Nelson District Court at an earlier date. Beale was also fined $1500. Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman Howard Reid said: ‘‘The fishery still hasn’t recovered from the severe impacts of the quake. In these circumstance, any harvest of pa¯ua has a huge negative impact on sustainability.’’ A prominent sign where the paua were taken clearly stated that the fishery was closed, Reid said.