Race against the clock to free stranded pilot whale
Crews yesterday worked to free a whale stranded at Kaitorete Spit, along the coast of Canterbury, about 50km from Christchurch.
Department of Conservation mahaanui operations manager Andy Thompson said: “Staff are responding to a stranded juvenile pilot whale at Kaitorete. We are assessing the whale’s condition to determine our next steps.
“As well as the team at the site, we have staff providing technical and logistical support. We also have staff assessing whether there are other whales in the area.”
Thompson said Doc was unsure why the whale had stranded.
“The whale is at a remote and challenging site a few kilometres south of Birdlings Flat. There is no vehicle access, and we are asking people to stay away. We do not need assistance from the public,” he said.
“While we do not regularly see pilot whales stranding on Kaitorete, the Banks Peninsula area is a hotspot for a wide range of marine life including whales. It is not unusual for pilot whales to be in this area.”
In a Facebook post, Project Jonah said: “We’re responding alongside DOC rangers to a single-stranded pilot whale outside of Christchurch.”
“Teams are assessing the welfare of the whale, large waves and conditions to see if [a] refloat is to be attempted. We’re also looking for any signs of a pod in the area and potentially at risk of stranding,” the post said.
Residents in the area can be seen helping crews move the whale.
A Herald photographer at the scene says a helicopter has been called in to search for other stranded whales.
According to the DOC website, pilot whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family.
“If you have sighted one in New Zealand’s waters, it is almost certainly a long-finned pilot whale. They roam throughout the cold temperate waters of the Southern Ocean,” the website says.
DOC says pilot whales are prolific stranders, and this behaviour is not well understood.
“There are recordings of individual strandings all over New Zealand, and there are a few mass stranding ‘hotspots’ at Golden Bay, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands.”
The biggest recorded pilot whale stranding was an estimated 1000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918.
It comes after a whale stranded at a Christchurch beach this year died.
The 7m-long whale became stranded off the coast of Moncks Bay on January 28.