Refloated whales strand again (New Zealand)

SAD SIGHT: Whales which restranded on Farewell Spit this afternoon. Project Jonah

January 19^th, 2014. Forty-eight pilot whales have restranded on Farewell Spit after being refloated earlier today.

The whales began to restrand at Triangle Flat at 4.30pm, several hours after initially being refloated by DOC rangers, Project Jonah volunteers and members of the public.

The stranded whales will be cared for by around 40 volunteers, but it is considered unsafe to attempt to refloat them in darkness.

It is hoped that the whales will refloat with the incoming tide.

DoC reported earlier most were swimming in deeper water towards the other side of Golden Bay and it was hoped that they would continue further out into the bay.

They were being monitored by the Tasman District Council harbourmaster.

Update : The Department of Conservation is appealing for volunteers to assist with 73 pilot whales found stranded on Farewell Spit this morning.

People with wetsuits are particularly needed to help refloat the whales around today’s 12.17pm high tide. Anyone who can help is asked to get to Triangle Flat at the base of Farewell Spit by around 11am. As well as bringing wetsuits if they have them, people should bring warm clothing, water, food and all the gear they need.

Project Jonah is also putting out a call to its trained volunteers to come and assist.

DOC rangers are still assessing how many of the whales are dead.

Sixty eight whales had been stranded about 3 km along the Spit last night of which 7 were dead. The whales have floated in the overnight high tide and moved further along the Spit. The stranded whales are this morning spread out over about 1.6 km.

DOC rangers and Project Jonah and other volunteers will this morning work to keep the whales as comfortable as possible and wet with buckets of sea water.

From a 30 years of experience rescuer : This is getting to be ridiculous, NZ DOC officers continue to make the volunteers push the whales out to sea at high tide day after day, yet clearly the whales are not ready and need more attention/time before refloat, as has been proven so many times in the past successful rescues. Can’t blame or fault the efforts of PJNZ Marine Mammal Medics who have worked tirelessly under DOC’s mis-management.

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