Whales Stranded At Farewell Spit

Monday, 2 December 2024, 8:13 pm
Article: RNZ

Two whales have died amid a stranding of nearly 40 pilot whales.

Whale rescuers have been working with Department of Conservation rangers and the local community to refloat the whales.

They were alerted to the stranding on Monday afternoon.

Local Project Jonah whale rescue medics were deployed, and wider region medics were put on stand-by.

Project Jonah's Louisa Hawkes was at Golden Bay and said the majority of the whales are still alive.

"We're working on keeping them cool and comfortable," she said.

"We've got teams up-righting the whales that are found on their sides."

Hawkes said the water is a few kilometres out from the whales, so there was no hope of a refloat until the tide came in.

"The next high tide is around midnight, so we'll be leaving the whales at last light and then back on the beach at first light to see what we find," Hawkes said.

She said they did not need anyone else coming down to the beach to help refloating efforts.

"If anything changes, we will update on our socials."

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