Necessities of saving marine mammals
Marine mammal charity Project Jonah was in Invercargill yesterday, hosting a training day for people to learn about how to properly approach and care for stranded marine animals.
The sold-out course had 32 people from Stewart Island, Dunedin and even Kaikoura travel to Invercargill for the training day, where participants were taught about how to approach marine animal strandings exercises.
General manager Daren Grover said the training was a breakdown of what to do, and what not to do, when people came across a stranding.
The participants spent the morning in the classroom, learning about the anatomy and behaviour of the animals, before heading out to Oreti Beach to put their skills to use.
The course had risen in popularity following the mass stranding of pilot whales and refloating at Farewell Spit earlier this month.
Project Jonah volunteers came out in force during the incident to help the whales.
Keeping the marine animal wet, but not covering the blowhole, was one of the most important tips, Grover said.
‘‘Without our help, they will die of heat exhaustion,’’ he said.
Communications and volunteer coordinator Louisa Hawkes said the conditions at the beach were too choppy to put a life-sized inflatable whale in water, but a realistic size and weight inflatable dolphin was used.
Staying away from the whale’s tail was also important.
It was the strongest muscle in the animal kingdom, running from the base of the skull and down their backs, and there was ‘‘a lot of power’’ behind it, Hawkes said.
Among the training equipment used were some of the same things Project Jonah had used just weeks ago at the Farewell Spit stranding, she said.