Beached orca trucked to sea

CHRIS SKELTON/Sunday Star Times

HELPING HAND: DoC and Project Jonah members guide the orca into deeper waters.

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A stranded orca whale hitched a ride across Auckland to safer seas yesterday, accompanied by the son and grandson of the late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau.

The 3.4m juvenile female whale beached on the sand at the remote Whatipu beach on Auckland's west coast about 2pm on Friday.

Department of Conservation ranger Karl McLeod said whale strandings at Whatipu were common when rough seas made crossing the Manukau bar difficult for a young whale without guidance from older members of the pod.

McLeod stayed with the whale overnight, keeping her wet to prevent overheating.

It was decided to move the whale by truck to calmer waters at Takapuna on the North Shore yesterday morning.

"Biologically and logistically the best chance for its wellbeing was to move it," McLeod said.

The journey across Auckland took about 90 minutes.

"Whales circle the island in pods, so we aren't taking it to unfamiliar habitat," McLeod said.

"It should link up with its pod soon."

Project Jonah whale rescue volunteer Renee Kelly said moving it was "a bit of a mission" and someone had to stay on the trailer as it went across town to keep the whale wet.

About 100 people watched as the whale was guided out to sea.

Ocean Futures Society president Jean-Michel Cousteau and son Fabien, guests of New Zealand orca researcher Ingrid Visser, here to shoot footage for a television programme, followed the whale for several hours to ensure it didn't end up beached again.

By late afternoon Visser said the whale was "doing great" swimming just below the surface. "It looks like we made the right decision."

- © Fairfax NZ News