A pod of up to 90 pilot whales has stranded at Golden Bay at the top of the South Island, following the weekend stranding of four whales in the Bay of Plenty.
Department of Conservation (DOC) area manager John Mason said an aircraft pilot spotted the pod "milling about'' in the area this morning.
DoC workers and volunteers tried to coax the "confused'' whales out towards deeper water but the whales were unresponsive and were left stranded as the tide receded, he said.
Mr Mason said it was the third whale stranding this summer, which was unusual.
DoC workers and volunteers were at the beach trying to keep the whales shaded and comfortable while the tide was low, he said.
At the weekend four whales, believed to be Beaked Whales, stranded themselves at Papamoa Beach East.
By the time Department of Conservation crews had arrived the whales had already died, prompting a necropsy.
Project Jonah was involved in the Papamoa stranding, and has now alerted 350 of its volunteer marine mammal medics about the situation at Golden Bay, with many now on their way to the scene.
Its chief executive Kimberly Muncaster said it was "tragic" to see two mass strandings at virtually the same site in just over two months.
Efforts to keep the whales alive could be hampered by the dangers of working on Farewell Spit at night.
"Hopefully we'll be able to keep as many whales as possible alive until nightfall.
"There's a small chance the whales may refloat on tonight's high tide at 11.00pm, but we will be back at first light to assess the situation and assist DOC in their rescue response.
"It's tragic to see another stranding so close to the last one on Farewell Spit, but we'll be doing our best to save as many of these whales as we can."作者: newbit 时间: 2012-1-23 15:28:09
