Whale refloating unsuccessful

Nearly 60 pilot whales stranded on Karikari Beach near Kaitaia today, with a rescue operation planned for the 15 survivors at first light tomorrow.

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The Department of Conservation (DOC) in Kaitaia received a call about 10.30am advising of a mass whale stranding.

Carolyn Smith, community relations programme manager for the DOC in Kaitaia, said the whales had probably stranded during the night, and that was why so many perished before being discovered.

The focus was to try to refloat the survivors, she said.

But the refloat was unsuccessful this afternoon, and DOC has decided to leave a skeleton crew to monitor them overnight, Mike Davies DOC acting area manager said.

"The plan at first light will be to remove the remaining whales across about 1km of road by transporter and refloat them in Matai Bay," he said.

It would not be necessary to tranquilise the whales, as they were already in quite a docile state, he said.

"That will be the challenge in the morning, anyway. We'll have to use transporters and diggers to lift them in a cradle. It has been done previously, and we're not transporting them very far," he said.

Mr Davies was not sure what the tide conditions would be like first thing tomorrow.

"Part of the reason for transporting them is the hope that the sea conditions will be easier on that side, because it's a bit more sheltered," he said.

About 40 people were involved in the rescue operation this afternoon, including at least 20 DOC staff.

Far North Whale Rescue, which has a team of trained volunteers, worked with DOC.

The Far North was experiencing heavy rain and wind, which was both a help and a hindrance; the whales would not dry out but it made conditions difficult for rescuers.

High tide was at 4.30pm, but the tides were higher than normal due to the heavy rain.

Once the whales were moved tomorrow, they would be positioned to face out to sea and they then needed to be held in the water for at least half an hour to allow them to re-orientate themselves, before being released to swim back out to sea.

At up to 1500kg each in weight, it takes at least five people to work with each animal.

Ms Smith said that because of the delicate physiology of marine mammals, and the risks associated with refloating them, it was important the teams working with them were adequately trained.

"We're very grateful to the Far North Whale Rescue, who run free training workshops for people who want to be involved in whale strandings," Ms Smith said.

The next task facing staff would be the disposal of the deceased whales.

DOC was working with local iwi, Ngati Kahu, on appropriate ways to do this.

Kimberly Muncaster, chief executive of Project Jonah, told NZPA the 15 surviving whales were in a "fairly poor condition".

She urged people not to rush down to the scene as it could make the rescue operation more difficult.

- NZPA