Heartbreaking vigil for whales
Rescuers renew desperate efforts to save pod stranded at Farewell Spit.
Hundreds of volunteers last night kept a vigil over 120 whales restranded on Farewell Spit, Golden Bay. Project Jonah and local volunteers were urgently recalled by the Department of Conservation at 5pm when part of a pod that had earlier been refloated, did not make it the 26km along the sandspit to safety and beached themselves again on the low tide.
DoC senior communications adviser Herb Christophers said they did not attempt to refloat the whales at the midnight high tide last night because of health and safety risks.
“Black fish, dark night, a flick of the tail and somebody could go down and nobody would know.”
Instead they would be back first thing this morning to check the whales and attempt to refloat any survivors at midday, Christophers said.
Emotional scenes were a common sight yesterday as volunteers desperately tried to save the mammals, in a day when volunteers formed a human chain in the water to prevent pods returning to shore.
Twenty restranded whales were euthanised and 100 whales were successfully refloated on the high tide.
An estimated 300 whales have died since the initial stranding of 416 whales on Thursday night.
DoC Nelson ranger Kath Inwood said yesterday’s renewed call for volunteers to Farewell Spit — a three-hour drive from Nelson — had led to calls from across the country from willing helpers.
“I just had a call from a couple of guys from Napier on their way down because they really want to help. People from Auckland ring up and say ‘ Can I come and help?’.”
Some of the 500 volunteers caring for 100 of the beached whales on Friday had sung to the gentle giants, some of which stretch 5m and weigh more than half a tonne.
The latest stranding happened near the road about 3km south of the Puponga carpark.
“It’s disappointing and it’s fairly intense for the guys on the ground. The first [DoC] staff have been on the ground for 12 hours so we’ve got backup staff coming from Motueka.”
Beached whales often die from dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole. Pilot whales need a matriarch to guide them out to sea but it’s not known if the pod’s leader is injured or dead or if that’s the reason for the strandings. The plan last night was to water the mammals until dark and return as early as possible today to continue the rescue effort. “They want all hands on deck tomorrow morning, early, as soon as people can get there.”
Any volunteers must have wetsuit.