The Department of Conservation (DOC) has confirmed stranded baby orca Toa has passed away.
Whale Rescue on Friday night posted to Facebook that Toa had "rapidly deteriorated" on Friday night.
"Vets on site rushed to his aid but were unable to save him. We have no further details as to what happened as you can all imagine we are devastated."
DOC confirmed the news to Newshub.
Toa was stranded on rocks near Plimmerton, north of Wellington, on July 11. An ongoing operation to care for the calf was being led by the Department of Conservation with support from Orca Research Trust, local iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira, and the local community.
It comes after orca Toa was moved back to his sea pen. His condition was believed to be improving after some health concerns on Thursday.
But after almost two weeks without its mother, the Department of Conservation (DoC) was beginning to consider how long it can continue to care for it.
Swimming around his makeshift sea pen, Toa was clearly happy to be back in the ocean on Friday after being kept in a temporary pool for a week to avoid bad weather.
"He's going underwater and he's blowing bubbles, he's making long straight swims," said Dr Ingrid Visser, founder and principal scientist at the Orca Research Trust.
He had become lethargic and had suffered injuries on his tail and fins, sustained in the initial stranding.
"We had hoped in the small temporary pool that they would improve - they did for a couple of days and then they went back down again," said Dr Visser.
The temporary pool Toa was in can hold upto 30,000 litres of water. It's where Toa was kept for a week up until Thursday night because conditions in the sea pen were deemed too dangerous.
Moving the six-month-old orca required some heavy lifting - it's a delicate operation reversing him into the water by trailer.
Despite a race to find Toa's family, with a number of reported sightings keeping hope alive for 13 days, it didn't come soon enough for the baby orca.
His death comes after Weta Workshop designed a new 'super teat', with parts donated by Sir Peter Jackson, to replace the smaller version he's been feeding from.
