Pilot Whales in New Zealand

I was reading today on Yahoo! News about the pilot whales stranded on the beaches in New Zealand. Apparently a pod of around 120 whales were beached.  Only 43 whales survived and made it back out to sea.  Reading about these pilot whales made me really sad. Why does that have to happen? Was this a cause of climate change? or did the whales just so happen to be at the end of their lives?
 I remember watching a Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter episode where Steve put his hand on a dying whale and spent time with it as it passed away. Things like that really hit home in my heart. I want to be a conservationist and I want to go help out the whales someday. I wish I could be one of those people who coaxed the 43 whales back into the ocean. How amazing these creatures are. So beautiful and graceful. I love them. If anybody knows a way for me to get involved in whale rescue let me know. I am sure someday I will get there. I just need to get my degree first. ~Wildlife Katie

(AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Steven McNicholl) 
Citation:
"Stranded Pilot Whales." Yahoo!News. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.< http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Stranded-PilotWhales/ss/events/sc/092210pilotwhales;_ylt=AnONXQUVO_vtXh7j4JCMTniGWo14;_ylu=X3oDMTBuaWpybDd1BHBvcwMxMgRzZWMDZXAEc2xrA2ltYWdl#photoViewer=/100922/photos_wl_pc_afp/f4a354d2599e39d8bf67901eb00c31fe>.