Mass Pilot Whale Beaching In NZ - 40 Dead
5:33pm Wednesday September 22, 2010
Tom Bonnett
At least half of 80 pilot whales stranded on a beach in New Zealand have died and there are fears more whales will kill themselves by swimming into shore to save them.
Past beachings have shown few whales survive after coming to shore
It is the second mass beaching in the country in a month. Mark Simpson of Project Jonah, a charity that protects marine mammals, said: "More whales are still coming in. "Pilot whales have very strong social bonds and they try to help each other so more keep getting stuck."
Some of the weakest and most distressed animals have been put down. Rough conditions at the bay mean the survivors will be taken by road for about an hour Rarawa Beach to be refloated. They will be lifted up in big nets and lain in the back of trucks of straw and hay.
Dead whales are removed from the beach at Spirits Bay
Department of Conservation area manager Jonathan Maxwell said at least 25 of the animals were already dead when officials arrived at Spirits Bay and another 15 had died by nightfall. In addition to the 40 still alive and stuck on the beach, another 50 were spotted just offshore, he said, though some of them had since beached.
Volunteers and the local Maori community plan to stay at the beach overnight to keep them alive. In mid-August at nearby Karikari Beach, 58 pilot whales stranded. Despite hundreds of helpers fighting to save them, just nine were eventually floated off the beach and returned to the sea. Scientists have not been able to determine why whales become stranded.
