VOLUNTEERS FIGHT TO RESCUE WHALES
Dead long-finned pilot whales line the beach at Farewell Spit yesterday, a day after stranding themselves. They were refloated on Monday night but came back in yesterday morning.
‘‘There’s a risk of restranding if they take off on their own.’’
A pod of long-finned pilot whales has successfully made its way offshore early yesterday afternoon, after restranding at Farewell Spit for a second time.
Department of Conservation community ranger Andrew Lamason said at 1.50pm yesterday the pod had successfully swum offshore, after a human chain of volunteers refloated the whales and pushed them into deeper water, not allowing them to swim back and restrand.
‘‘Volunteers have been pulled out of the water now, because the whales are swimming below the low tide zone and heading out to sea,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s good news.’’
The pod was refloated for a second time yesterday, after restranding on Monday night.
Department of Conservation spokeswoman Trish Grant said DOC rangers and about 50 volunteers started searching for the whales at first light, and found the pod of 28 surviving whales about 7am.
As they did the day before, volunteers formed a human chain to walk the whales out to deeper water yesterday morning – keeping them together as a group to improve their chances of reorienting themselves.
About 10.30am, the volunteers were recalled to the shore to have a rest, after getting the pod out to water which was about chest to neck deep.
A boat with DOC and Project Jonah staff was working to keep the pod together, with the volunteers back on land, waiting to see if the whales were able to make it back out to sea.
The whales did not appear to have moved from the spot they were herded to on Monday night, still confused and disoriented and getting stranded in virtually the same place the next morning.
The pod of 49 whales had been found stranded near the base of Farewell Spit at about 9.30am on Monday. About 150 volunteers worked to keep the whales cool and wet as they prepared to refloat them on the high tide.
By the time they were refloated on Monday, about 38 of the whales had survived. About
6.30pm, a human chain of volunteers helped to guide the pod back out into chest-deep water.
DOC whale stranding operations manager Darren Foxwell said they had to first refloat the animals to let them get their balance back, then let them go as a pod. ‘‘There’s a risk of restranding if they take off on their own.’’
Project Jonah communications and volunteer co-ordinator Louisa Hawkes said the main concern for the whales was overheating, because the animals were black, which absorbed the Sun’s heat, and were covered in a layer of blubber.
About 2pm, a woman who was standing close to the rear of one of the largest whales was struck repeatedly by its tail, when the animal began flapping violently in distress, breaking her ankle.
The volunteer was seen crawling away and clutching her ankle, with others rushing to help, including a doctor. She was driven to the base of the spit and treated by an ambulance crew before being flown to Nelson Hospital by rescue helicopter.
The last mass stranding at Farewell Spit was in 2017, when an estimated 600 to 700 whales stranded. About 400 were successfully refloated, but approximately
250 died.