Second whale washes up (New Zealand)

A second cuvier’s beaked whale has been found washed up in Maketu. Photo : supplied.

Sunday, November 2^nd, 2014. A second whale, believed to be the mother of a juvenile cuvier’s beaked whale found earlier this week, has been found washed up in Maketu.

An adult female cuvier’s beaked whale, about 7.5 metres long, was found by a member of the public on the beach near Okurei Point on Saturday.

Ngati Makino environmental officer Pia Bennett says while the whale was found yesterday, it appears to have been washed up in the previous high tide in the early hours of Friday morning.

“She was in a pretty bad state, already bloated. It looks like she was there all day in the hot sun.”

Pia believes the whale is likely to have died, or been sick or injured at sea, and has washed up on the shore.

She says they’ve named the whale – Hine-o-uru – to establish a connection between the earlier stranding of a juvenile cuvier’s beaked whale on October 30. She believes the adult whale could have been its mother.

The four-metre long baby whale, named Uru by locals, was found stranded on the rocks outside Maketu Surf Club and was euthanised after it was unable to head back out to sea.

Pia says the two stranding events are connected and the juvenile whale was probably distressed at the ailing health or at sea death of the adult giving rise to the circumstances surrounding its becoming stranded in the inner estuary.

“According to te tikanga o te tohora, the appropriate process to follow with stranded whales – the first thing we do is give the whale a name.

“This establishes a whakapapa [genealogy] and gives the tohora [whale] mana [power] so it leaves us with its dignity intact.”

Pia says this ensures the knowledge leading to other circumstances surrounding the stranding are retained.

“It’s a very traditional process. No place for made up stuff.”

She says the whale is likely to be buried onsite.

Source