UPDATED 7.45am The task of dealing with between 250 to 300 dead pilot whales on a New Zealand beach gets under way today.

LISTEN ABOVE: DOC Golden Bay operations manager Andrew Lamason spoke to Mike Hosking about where to from here

More than 300 whales died on Farewell Spit following a stranding on Friday morning. 

However, more than 200 whales from another pod were successfully re-floated following another stranding on Saturday night.

DOC spokesman Herb Christophers said those whales are now making their way off shore.

"As far as we're aware they're heading east, which is the way they want to be going, out to deeper water," he said.

"Hopefully that's the last we'll see of them."

As long as the rescued whales stay at sea the focus will turn to dealing with the dead animals.

DOC Golden Bay operations manager Andrew Lamason told Mike Hosking it's possible the ones that did get back out into the ocean won't survive.

"They've been through a bit of an ordeal. They will be vulnerable and they will be exhausted so there will be some that I imagine will die while they're out at sea."

There have been reports the whales may "explode" on the beach where they lie on Farewell Spit.

The spit is closed while officials work to remove the "nasty" whale carcasses, which Christophers said could erupt at any time.

"You just don't want to be around those fumes when they do go.

"They carry a few diseases which could possibly be transferred to humans, which is not a very pleasant experience."

Mr Lamason said they can either move them up onto the dunes, or keep them below the high tide line.

He told Mike Hosking he prefers the latter option.

"They keep them within that marine ecosystem and they break down a lot more. The water sort of flushes in and out and cleans them."

A Department of Conservation spokeswoman said the idea is to tether the whales with a long narrow fence to stop them drifting away and becoming a hazard in the water.

They'll be left to bio-degrade in the marine environment. 

The strandings preceded and followed a strong 5.2 magnitude earthquake near Culverden yesterday, however Auckland University Marine Biologist Dr Rochelle Constantine isn't convinced that quakes are a significant factor in whale strandings.

"Those events [earthquakes] are mostly inconsequential to them, because they're hearing the earthquakes but they're part of their landscape," she said.

"I mean, you can never say never but there's no strong evidence at all."

More than a hundred whales beached at Stewart Island just before the Christchurch 2011 earthquake.

Additional reporting by NZ Newswire