48 stranded whales die on New Zealand coast

2012-01-25 07:21:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

FAREWELL SPIT, NEW ZEALAND (BNO NEWS) -- At least 48 pilot whales have died after a group of nearly 100 whales stranded on the coast of New Zealand on late Monday morning, officials said on Wednesday. Dozens remain stranded.

Department of Conservation (DoC) Golden Bay Area manager John Mason said the pod of 99 pilot whales stranded themselves at around 11 a.m. local time on Monday during outgoing tide at the base of Farewell Spit in Golden Bay, located on the northern end of the country's South Island.

By Monday evening, 22 of the pilot whales had died while 16 others managed to refloat and are believed to be safe. As of Wednesday morning, Mason said 35 of the whales remain stranded while a total of 48 others have died.

Around 200 volunteers and DoC workers have been working around the clock to keep the whales wet, covering them with wet sheets to protect them from the sun, and push the survivors back into the sea. "We are trying to encourage them to swim out to sea," Mason said.

Mason said the rescue attempts have so far been unsuccessful. "The whales have been quite directional and haven't wanted to leave the area," he said. "So since the stranding, they've been refloated four times, but they haven't really moved anywhere much. They have moved a few hundred meters (feet) in either direction over each high tide cycle."

Pilot whales work as a close-knit community and need to be in agreement with one another to make a move, making it more difficult for the rescue workers to save them. "The chances [for their survival] certainly diminish each time you try [to refloat them] and are unsuccessful," Mason said. "They are still not showing a lot of exclamation to move off. So, while the whales are in a reasonable condition, we really can't get them to move offshore into deeper water."

Golden Bay is one of New Zealand's most notorious spots for whale strandings. Earlier this month, 18 whales died after a pod of 25 whales beached about 2 kilometers (1.2 mile) from this week's incident.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-01-25

Where was Sea Shepherd? Could have given all of these to the Japanese.....Job done!

Where was Sea Shepherd? Could have given all of these to the Japanese.....Job done!

Jim with comments like that I feel a lot of people would believe that you are not a gentle man at all!

Sea mammals are very sensitive to underwater sounds. It may not be a factor in this case (as it wasn't mentioned in the report), but there are times when whales or dolphins get disoriented from sonar, particularly the loud type sometimes used by naval or fishing vessels. It's can also very painful for them.

Edited January 27, 201214 yr by maidu

Where was Sea Shepherd? Could have given all of these to the Japanese.....Job done!

Jim with comments like that I feel a lot of people would believe that you are not a gentle man at all!

Can you explain why? The Sea Shepherds mission is to stop whales dying. The Japanese cause all the fuss in New Zealand and Austrailian waters catching whales for 'experimental purposes' (to eat). So, where was the Sea Shepherd? and why chase the Japanese all around the Southern Waters while they pursue whales? If they want them for experimental reasons then call their bluff and knock 50 off their quota with whales that have just died on the beach. What is ungentlemanly about that?

Hopefully they can get some ice ready for the stranded ones.

I've had a few before, and they're very tasty.

Anyone know a Bangkok importer?

From what I heard, the surviving whales have all been killed because they were suffering.