Twenty-two pilot whales have died after a pod of 99 stranded at Golden Bay at the top of the South Island today.

Department of Conservation (DOC) area manager John Mason said an aircraft pilot spotted the pod "milling around" in the area.

"They were discovered about 10am this morning by a local pilot who was doing a flight over the base of Farewell Spit, and he saw the whales, looked at them and decided they were probably going to strand, and gave us a ring."

DOC workers tried to coax the "confused" whales out towards deeper water but the whales were unresponsive and were left stranded as the tide receded, he said.

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