Zealand

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.

England’s Harry Brook has apologised after being involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer the night before a one-day international on the tour of New Zealand that preceded the Ashes.

A report in the Telegraph revealed Brook, England’s white-ball captain, was struck by the bouncer after being refused entry to a club the night before the third ODI in Wellington.

Brook, who is also England’s Test vice-captain, has avoided being stripped of the white-ball job but has been fined around £30,000 and is on a final warning for his future conduct.

The revelation comes at the end of England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, a tour dogged by accusations of a slack team culture, including players drinking too much on a holiday in Noosa.

“I want to apologise for my actions,” said Brook in statement. “I fully accept that my behaviour was wrong and brought embarrassment to both myself and the England team.

“Representing England is the greatest honour of all, which I take seriously and I am deeply sorry for letting down my team-mates, coaches and supporters. I have reflected on the lessons it has taught me about responsibility, professionalism and the standards expected of those representing your country.

“I am determined to learn from this mistake and to rebuild trust through my future actions, both on and off the field. I apologise unreservedly and will work hard to ensure this does not happen again.”

A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said: “We are aware of this incident and it has been dealt with through a formal and confidential ECB disciplinary process. The player involved has apologised and acknowledged their conduct fell below expectations on this occasion.”

The partnership, which spanned 86.4 overs, is the joint 12th highest opening stand in men’s Test cricket and only the eighth stand of 300 for any wicket for New Zealand.

New Zealand’s record partnership was set by Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones, who added 467 for the third wicket against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1991.

Conway faced 279 balls and hit 25 fours, compiling his sixth Test century in the process.

Latham, who earlier won the toss, was dropped by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach on 104 before being caught by a diving Roston Chase at first slip off Kemar Roach.

Latham faced 246 balls, struck 15 fours and a six and now has 15 Test hundreds.

“It’s the best I’ve been part of. It was a good time out there,” said Conway.

“We had a discussion this morning around trying to bat big, bat well and give the bowlers an opportunity to bowl in the fourth innings.

“It was a challenging morning session, particularly for me. I was fighting with myself during the first hour. They bowled really well.

“After lunch, the ball got a little bit softer and the wicket sped up, so it offered up some good scoring opportunities for myself and Tom.”

Conway will resume alongside nightwatchman Jacob Duffy when play resumes on Friday (22:00 GMT, Thursday).