New Zealand Rescuers Refloat 100 Stranded Whales

Volunteers attend to some of the hundreds of stranded pilot whales still alive, as one lies on a sandbank marked with an “X” to indicate it has died, after one of the country's largest recorded mass whale strandings, in Golden Bay, at the top of New Zealand's South Island, February 10, 2017. A new pod of 240 whales swam aground at a remote New Zealand beach on Saturday just hours after weary volunteers managed to refloat a different group of whales following an earlier mass stranding. In total, more than 650 pilot whales have beached themselves along a 5 kilometer (3 mile) stretch of coastline over two days on Farewell Spit at the tip of the South Island. About 335 of the whales are dead, 220 remain stranded, and 100 are back at sea. Department of Conservation Golden Bay Operations Manager Andrew Lamason said they are sure they're dealing with a new pod because they had tagged all the refloated whales from the first group and none of the new group had tags. The news was devastating for hundreds of volunteers who had come from around the country to help with the initial group of 416 stranded whales that was found early Friday, many of them already dead. Lamason said improved weather and crystal clear water had helped with the rescue attempt. He said about 100 surviving whales from the initial group were refloated, and dozens of volunteers had formed a human chain in the water to prevent them from beaching again. He said volunteers were warned about the possibility of stingrays and sharks, after one of the dead whales appeared to have bite marks consistent with a shark. He said there had been no shark sightings. Officials will soon need to turn to the grim task of disposing of hundreds of carcasses. Lamason said one option was to tether the carcasses to stakes or a boat in the shallow tidal waters and let them decompose. The problem with towing them out to sea or leaving them was that they could become gaseous and buoyant, and end up causing problems by floating into populated bays. There are different theories as to why whales strand themselves, from chasing prey too far inshore to trying to protect a sick member of the group or escaping a predator. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of whale strandings in the world, and Friday's event was the nation's third-biggest in recorded history. The largest was in 1918, when about 1,000 pilot whales came ashore on the Chatham Islands. In 1985, about 450 whales stranded in Auckland. Pilot whales grow to about 7.5 meters (25 feet) and are common around New Zealand's waters. (Photo by Anthony Phelps/Reuters)
New Zealand Rescuers Refloat 100 Stranded Whales
   
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