More than 100 whales die after becoming stranded on New Zealand beach
Source: Agence France Presse
Published on Feb 14, 2015 12:17 PM
WELLINGTON (AFP) - More than 100 pilot whales that became stranded on a New Zealand beach have died, conservation officials said on Saturday, voicing grave fears for more than 90 others from the pod.
The whales beached themselves on Friday at Farewell Spit at the northern tip of the South Island, with dozens of rescuers racing to refloat the marine mammals on the evening high tide.
But Department of Conservation (DOC) spokesman Andrew Lamason said the whales had swam aground again overnight after being shepherded out to deep water. "We've now got 103 that are confirmed dead and we're trying to keep the rest alive," he told AFP. "There's about 150 volunteers trying to make them as comfortable as possible, they're putting sheets on them and water over them. But we're preparing ourselves for a pretty bad outcome, each time they restrand their health goes down quite dramatically."
Mr Lamason said the incident was distressing for all involved. "There's a lot of young ones out there that have already passed away. It's been quite an emotional time for our staff," he said. "The whales also go through a lot of physical and emotional trauma."
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