Army of workers help bury whales
A small army of workers helping to strip the bones from dead whales are being hand-fed during breaks in their grisly task.
Helpers stationed behind a tarpaulin and driftwood shelter, and a fire, are passing sips of hot soup and bites of food over the barrier tape to the mouths of workers, who cannot touch the food for hygiene reasons.
Twelve sperm whales have now washed up along a 5km stretch of the South Taranaki coast at Kaupokonui.
Work on the whales’ burial began yesterday on a day where a harsh southerly wind blasting sand into people’s eyes kept bystanders off the beach as effectively as the security staff stationed around the beach.
Clad in coats and leggings, beanies and thick gloves, the workers are using knives to strip decaying flesh off the bones of two whales closest to the river mouth. A large hole has been dug near the two carcasses to bury the remains.
It’s hard physical work, amid the stench of the decomposing whales, a sickening, sweet combination of rotting fish and dead cow.
Ngati Tu iwi members and Department of Conservation (DOC) staff are working alongside a team from Nga¯ti Wai in Whangarei, to remove the bones for use in carving.
The whales were predominantly males, of different sizes up to 14 metres in length, and different ages, Department of Conservation senior biodiversity ranger Callum Lilly said.
Last Wednesday morning eight whales were found dead on the beach, and four more had washed up since. It was not known if the whales had died at sea or stranded live, he said, or at this stage, why they died.
Nga¯ ti Tu hapu member Bonita Bigham, of Manaia, said the whanau were rediscovering lost cultural knowledge with the help and expertise of the group from Nga¯ ti Wai, who had travelled to Kaupokonui to help with the process.
‘‘Matua Hori Parata is the renowned expert across the country in this area and when people call for their help, they congregate from all over the country to assist iwi and hapu. We are grateful beyond words to have someone of this calibre here, especially in these conditions.’’