New Zealand’s Wellington (AP) Conservationists and locals helped refloat more than 30 pilot whales that had become stranded on a New Zealand beach by raising them on sheets, allowing them to be safely returned to the water. According to New Zealand’s conservation agency, four of the pilot whales perished.
Pilot whales are particularly common stranders, and New Zealand is a hotspot for whale strandings.
The Department of Conservation informed The Associated Press that a team was keeping an eye on Ruak K Beach, which is close to the city of Whang Rei in the north of New Zealand, on Monday to make sure there were no indications that the whales that were salvaged on Sunday were stranded once more. The efforts of hundreds of volunteers to save the foundering pod were hailed by the agency as amazing.
Joel Lauterbach, a spokesperson for the Department of Conservation, said in a statement that it’s incredible to see the sincere concern and kindness people have shown for these great animals. We all have a strong bond with our aquatic environment, as this answer reveals.
On Monday, a M ori cultural ceremony was held in honor of the three adult whales and one calf that perished during the stranding. The Indigenous people of New Zealand view whales as a precious treasure with cultural value, known as taonga.
Since 1840, more over 5,000 whale strandings have been reported in New Zealand. According to the Department of Conservation, the largest pilot whale stranding occurred in 1918 when an estimated 1,000 whales were stranded at the Chatham Islands.
Although the exact cause of strandings is frequently unknown, the geography of the island nation is thought to play a role. Both the North and South Islands have sections of sloping, shallow coastline that might be confusing to species like pilot whales, which use echolocation to find their way.
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