witchy1
4th February 2011, 13:44
Nine of a pod of 80 pilot whales beached west of Nelson have already died and more are likely to perish overnight, the Department of Conservation (DOC) says.
DOC staff would try to refloat the surviving whales tomorrow, DOC spokeswoman Trish Grant said.
Members of the public alerted DOC after finding about 30 whales stranded at 1.30pm at Puponga Point, near the base of Farewell Spit, in Golden Bay, she told NZPA.
Staff had tried to prevent the other whales from beaching, but had only managed to save four, leaving 80 whales stranded.
It was not known what had happened to the four whales who swam back out to sea, and it was possible they had restranded elsewhere, Ms Grant said.
"It's likely that more will die overnight because stranding is quite an ordeal for them -- it's stressful. But also some just get drowned, they just can't get into an upright position as the water comes and they can't breathe."
More than 100 DOC staff and volunteers, including tourists from overseas and locals, had today been working to keep the whales hydrated and protected from the sun this afternoon.
The next high tide was about midnight but it was too dangerous to refloat the whales in the dark, Ms Grant said.
"Soon we will be moving people off because the tide's coming in, it's going to be getting dark and it's not going to be safe to be working in the water with them. So we will just be reassessing things in the morning."
Not much could be done for the whales overnight, so it was likely a few staff would keep an eye on them.
"We'd be optimistic that there's surviving whales tomorrow that we can refloat."
The tide was likely to move the whales around, but generally whales restranded in these situations, Ms Grant said.
More here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4619243/Whales-stranded-in-Golden-Bay
DOC staff would try to refloat the surviving whales tomorrow, DOC spokeswoman Trish Grant said.
Members of the public alerted DOC after finding about 30 whales stranded at 1.30pm at Puponga Point, near the base of Farewell Spit, in Golden Bay, she told NZPA.
Staff had tried to prevent the other whales from beaching, but had only managed to save four, leaving 80 whales stranded.
It was not known what had happened to the four whales who swam back out to sea, and it was possible they had restranded elsewhere, Ms Grant said.
"It's likely that more will die overnight because stranding is quite an ordeal for them -- it's stressful. But also some just get drowned, they just can't get into an upright position as the water comes and they can't breathe."
More than 100 DOC staff and volunteers, including tourists from overseas and locals, had today been working to keep the whales hydrated and protected from the sun this afternoon.
The next high tide was about midnight but it was too dangerous to refloat the whales in the dark, Ms Grant said.
"Soon we will be moving people off because the tide's coming in, it's going to be getting dark and it's not going to be safe to be working in the water with them. So we will just be reassessing things in the morning."
Not much could be done for the whales overnight, so it was likely a few staff would keep an eye on them.
"We'd be optimistic that there's surviving whales tomorrow that we can refloat."
The tide was likely to move the whales around, but generally whales restranded in these situations, Ms Grant said.
More here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4619243/Whales-stranded-in-Golden-Bay