Nine beached whales die in New Zealand, 40 refloated
WELLINGTON: Volunteers in New Zealand successfully refloated 40 stranded whales on Monday but remained concerned they might beach themselves again overnight.
A pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales had stranded themselves on Farewell Spit, a remote beach on the South Island, according to authorities. Nine of the whales died. Louisa Hawkes, a spokesperson for whale rescue group Project Jonah, said volunteers helped keep the whales cool and comfortable throughout the day by drenching them with buckets of water, keeping them upright and making sure they didn’t put too much pressure on their fins.
The evening high tide allowed them to refloat the whales.the whales were spread out along the beach and one of their first tasks was to herd them together. She said about 200 people, most of them volunteers, helped move the whales out to sea.