6 whales die; 15 more stranded on New Zealand beach
Jan. 9 (UPI) — Six pilot whales are dead and 15 others are stranded on New Zealand’s South Island, and volunteers are furiously working to save them.
About 55 whales washed up on Farewell Spit Thursday. The spit is a long peninsula of sand that juts out of the north end of the island. It’s been labeled a whale trap because they easily get stranded there. Most of the whales were able to get free, but about 15 of them were re-stranded and are lying along about 0.6 miles of beach.
Volunteers have been pouring buckets of water over the whales to keep them cool until the tide comes in, when they hopefully will be able to swim away.
“When the tide comes in, we’re going to have to move really quickly to bring these whales together, then move them out to deeper waters,” said Louisa Hawkes of Project Jonah, a nonprofit that helps marine mammals.
Pilot whales are very social animals, and rescuers believe their strong group bonds can help their chances of survival. Conditions must be just right for re-floating success.
On Friday, Project Jonah said the whales were in the tidal zone and were showing signs of encouraging behaviour, according to New Zealand’s RNZ news.
The organization appealed for extra volunteers to help with the operation. The New Zealand Department of Conservation sent rangers, a boat and a drone to look for more strandings.
