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A mass stranding at New Zealand’s Farewell Spit has left six pilot whales dead and 15 others fighting for survival. Part of an original group of 55 that washed ashore on Thursday, the remaining 15 whales re-stranded after an initial attempt to return to sea. Volunteers are now working along a 1km stretch of beach to prevent further loss of life.
A video from Project Jonah, a non-profit working with marine mammals, showed volunteers pouring buckets of water on the whales to keep them cool.
"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 from Project Jonah.
Pilot whales are highly social animals and have a natural instinct to look out for one another. Volunteers hope to bring the 15 stranded whales together in a "nice tight group" to help them refamiliarise with one another and swim out together, Hawkes said.
They will attempt to refloat the whales this afternoon, but time is tight. "We have to do all of that before the tide turns and drops again," Hawkes said. The group is calling for volunteers to help with the refloating.
New Zealand's conservation department has deployed rangers, a boat and a drone to Farewell Spit to monitor any further strandings.
Mass strandings regularly occur at Farewell Spit, located on the northern-most tip of the South Island. The conservation department describes it as a "naturally occurring 'whale trap'" located along a migratory route for long-finned whales.
"Whales may be easily deceived and caught out by the gently sloping tidal flats and a rapidly falling tide," it said in a statement on Thursday.
