Death On The Beach
TV One Sunday 27 May 12pm

Death on the Beach questions why over 700 whales strand on NZ beaches every year and whether flocking to the beach to save them is the right response.

“What are you doing when you push a whale back out to sea? Is it for the benefit of the whale or is it for the benefit of you? Maybe in the terms of the welfare of the whale it’s a much more generous thing to do to actually euthanase it.” Anton Van Helden, Marine Mammal Curator from Te Papa

Yet the human response is to try and rescue these animals, with many people feeling a special bond with these mysterious mammals. Project Jonah, an organization dedicated to saving whales, has even created an inflatable whale for volunteers to practice rescuing.

Death on the Beach opens with a mass stranding of 129 pilot whales at Puponga Beach at the top of the South Island last year. DOC and holidaymakers try to refloat the animals, but after thousands of years scientists still don’t know why these giant mammals seemingly commit suicide.

“There is something driving the animals onto the beach. If you observe the animals they are not confused in the sense that they have chosen to strand themselves and when pushed off will chose to strand themselves again. To biologists they remain one of the most unique phenomenon in nature.” Scott Baker, Auckland University’s ecology Professor

In a particularly chilling scene, Death On The Beach accompanies DOC Officer Greg Napp to the end of Farewell Spit where we see 49 freshly euthanased Pilot Whales, hearing how difficult it was for a conservationist to shoot them.

Scientists want to solve the mystery of why they strand – they only way is to cut open whales and take samples, yet this clashes with Maori legend that states whales are the children of Tangaroa, god of the sea, and they must therefore be blessed and buried. At a mass grave for 24 dead Pilot Whales the clash between culture and science is obvious.

Mass whales strandings have occurred for thousands of years, but as more animal species are in danger of extinction, the seemingly senseless whale strandings seem to disturb us more than ever.

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Death On The Beach Fact Sheet:

* Mass whale strandings were first documented by Aristotle over 2000 years ago.

* It was a New Zealander, Frank Robson, who was the first person to prove that stranded whales could actually be saved.

* Scientists still don’t know what causes whale strandings, though many theories exist – most focusing on either illnesses or navigational error.

* Sperm Whales are so heavy that within hours of beaching their body weight starts to crush their internal organs.

* There is no successful method known for re-floating stranded Sperm Whales.

Billing Line:

A look at the phenomenon of whale strandings and how people respond to these largely unexplained tragedies.

ENDS