A race to save the whales
More than 650 pilot whales washed up on a New Zealand beach in one of the country’s largest mass strandings. Hundreds of volunteers came to their rescue, but efforts were largely in vain
WELLINGTON // A new pod of 240 whales swam aground at a remote New Zealand beach yesterday just hours after weary volunteers managed to refloat a different group of whales after an earlier mass stranding.
In total, more than 650 pilot whales have beached themselves along a five- kilometre stretch of coastline over two days on Farewell Spit at the tip of the South Island. About 335 of the whales died, 220 remain stranded, and 100 were returned to the sea. Andrew Lamason of the department of conservation said they were dealing with a new pod because all the refloated whales from the first group had been tagged and none of the new group had tags.
The news was devastating for hundreds of volunteers who had come from around the country to help with the initial group of 416 whales that were found stranded early on Friday, many of them already dead.
Volunteers were planning to return today to help refloat as many healthy whales as possible. Mr Lamason said about 20 of the new group were euthanised by conservation workers because they were in poor condition and it was likely that more would need to be killed today. Rescuers had been hopeful earlier yesterday after efforts to refloat the initial group of whales went well, after a frustrating day on Friday. Mr Lamason said improved weather and crystal clear water had helped with the rescue attempt. About 100 surviving whales from the initial group were refloated, and dozens of volunteers had formed a human chain in the water to prevent them from beaching again. He said volunteers were warned about the possibility of stingrays and sharks after one of the dead whales appeared to have bite marks consistent with a shark. He said there had been no shark sightings.
Officials will soon need to turn to the grim task of disposing of hundreds of carcasses. Mr Lamason said one option was to tether the carcasses to stakes or a boat in the shallow tidal waters and let them decompose.
The problem with towing them out to sea or leaving them was that they could become gaseous and buoyant, and end up causing problems by floating into populated bays.
Farewell Spit, a sliver of sand that arches like a hook into the Tasman Sea, has been the site of previous mass strandings. Sometimes described as a whale trap, the spit’s long coastline and gently sloping beaches seem to make it difficult for whales to navigate once they get close.
Theories vary as to why whales strand themselves, from chasing prey too far inshore to trying to protect a sick member of the group or escaping a predator. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of whale strandings in the world, and Friday’s event was the nation’s third-biggest in recorded history. The largest was in 1918, when about 1,000 pilot whales came ashore on the Chatham Islands. In 1985, about 450 whales stranded in Auckland.
Pilot whales grow to about 7.5 metres and are common in New Zealand’s waters.