Pilot whales restrand, 33 to be put down
NAOMI ARNOLD
BATTLING: Rescue volunteer Max Gavand pours water over a stranded pilot whale at Farewell Spit in Golden Bay on Tuesday.
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Thirty-three stranded long-finned pilot whales that were refloated for the second time yesterday beached on Farewell Spit overnight and are now out of reach of rescuers.
The whales restranded past Stockyard Point, about seven kilometres up the spit, which is the cut-off point for rescue.
The Department of Conservation would now euthanase them, spokesman John Mason said.
"When you reflect on what's happened, they've been through five tide cycles and have had two assisted refloats,'' he said.
''There's a gale warning in force for this afternoon, with winds of 35 knots, which means we wouldn't have a boat to help them. When you factor all those together, euthanasia's the best outcome."
The whales were the last of a pod of 99 that stranded on Monday afternoon. Eighty-two have now died, with only the 17 that refloated themselves on the first night surviving.
"It's really sad, but we did everything we could," Project Jonah chief executive Kimberly Muncaster said.
"There was just an incredible turnout of volunteers, which was great. It's one of those realities in Golden Bay. It doesn't matter how many times you refloat, they just can't make their way out."
Project Jonah would monitor the situation, she said.
Last night, the pod appeared to be making its way out to sea.
"The whales were exhausted and disoriented, and after such a long time on land their skins and body organs may also have suffered some damage," Muncaster said.
About 50 Project Jonah medics answered the call to assist DOC in the rescue effort on Monday, with more arriving yesterday to support the volunteers.
"These people have done an extraordinary job," Muncaster said.
"Along with DOC staff and members of the public, they have endured challenging conditions on the beach, little sleep and heartbreak when the whales restranded.
"Their ability to start all over again despite being tired was truly admirable."
Muncaster said locals should remain on high alert for more restrandings.
Sightings of pilot whales should be reported to DOC on 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) or 0800 4 WHALE (0800 494 253).
- © Fairfax NZ News
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There is a suit where the Indians in America are suing the US Navy over whale deaths, as the sonar experiments contribute to whale deaths around the world. To say that we do not know why this is happening is silly really. These Navy exercises have gone on for years, so why is it NZ does nothing about it?
I wonder for how many years before anyone arrived in NZ this has been happening.
Its sad but, waste not want not, fish shops should be doing a roaring trade...
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It is now quite common knowledge that whales often strand to escape ship's sonar. Sometimes it's the Navy doing sonar testing, sometimes it's the oil exploration industry sounding through rock bed to 'see' gas and oil fields. To the whales, apparently, it's very loud and scary, and they panic and run, to the point of running away from their natural environment. So sad.