Hundreds of dead and dying seabirds wash up on Horowhenua Beach

The were an estimated 100 dead seabirds washed up near Waikawa Beach.

Two Waikawa Beach women were treated to a scene of horror on their early morning walk when they found hundreds of dead and dying seabirds on the shoreline.

Angela Smith and Lucy Truscott are pleading to animal shelter agencies and members of the public for help in their attempts to save as many birds as they can.

The two women routinely walked about 3.5km from Waikawa Beach to Kuku Beach and back home again each morning, only early today they came across the grisly sight of the dead and dying birds.

Angela Smith and Lucy Truscott found the dead birds during a morning walk.

The birds were in such distress that Truscott, a former member of the armed forces, returned with an air rifle to humanely destroy the birds that were in distress and dying after checking with authorities that it was okay to do so first.

"I was just bawling my eyes out. I thought it was just one or two," she said.

Those birds that were well enough to hold their heads up and were still breathing were being checked and the two women were hoping they could all still be saved.

It wasn't the first time they had found dead birds.

They found still bird still alive and looking like it could survive.

A fortnight ago on their walk they had found one bird that was in distress so helped it and alerted the authorities, even contacting Wellington Zoo to see if it was interested helping.

But that was one bird. Today they said they had seen "at least 150" that were dead or dying.

A DoC spokesperson said it was a highly unusual situation and were now urging people to not go near the birds.

"It was brought to our attention by a member of the public and DoC is at Waikawa Beach currently investigating. The gulls appear to mainly be black backed gulls, which although are not protected are a native species," they said.

The were an estimated 100 dead seabirds washed up near Waikawa Beach.

"We are not yet sure what has happened and are investigating. Our focus at the moment is on what action to take with the birds.

"We would ask that anyone who is on the beach please keep their distance from the gulls, and keep any dogs on leashes.

"We would also like to thank the member of the public for reporting this to us through the DoC hotline. We encourage anyone with concerns about wildlife to contact us on 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468)."