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Surviving pilot whales from a large pod stranded in the Far North may have to be trucked to a more sheltered beach to be refloated.
Around 80 whales yesterday beached themselves over 5km at Spirits Bay, 90km north of Kaitaia. DOC staff were alerted to the stranding at 11.30am after
a local spotted the pilot whales on the sand.
Some of the beached whales had to be euthanised because they were drowning or were too badly injured by rocks and by 10.30pm yesterday, unconfirmed reports said 40 whales had died.
Volunteers from DoC, Project Jonah, Far North Whale Rescue and the local Te Hapua community spent last night keeping the whales cool and damp.
But the Department of Conservation (DoC) this morning confirmed that just 24 whales were still alive.
DoC spokesperson Caroline Smith said poor weather was preventing the whales being refloated at Spirits Bay.
"As of this morning there have been 24 live animals moved out of the tide up on to the beach out of harms way," Ms Smith said.
"The weather is terrible up there, we have 20 knot winds and 1.5 to 2 metre swells so it is not possible to refloat them at Spirits Bay."
Ms Smith said DOC was looking at their options, with the mammals likely to be taken by truck to the more sheltered Rarawa Beach, about an hour south.
"We're getting them into groups, because they are spread out over 5km, ready for transport."
If the whales were moved by truck then they would be lifted up with big nets on to the back of trucks with straw or hay on them, Project Jonah Mark Simpson said.
He said more volunteers would be needed to help move them.
DOC operations manager Patrick Whaley last night said conditions for the volunteers were "absolutely awful".
"We're battling huge waves and strong surf ... human safety is our top priority."
Te Hapua School teacher Te Aroha Wihapi took senior students to the beach to help cover the whales in wet sheets and tarpaulins.
"It was quite traumatic for some of the younger ones. Two of them wanted to hug one of the whales because they saw its eye was weeping."
DoC Kaitaia area manager Jonathan Maxwell said the number of whales was "unprecedented".
The department was warning people going north to prepare themselves for cold weather and 40 knot winds.
"The biggest part is people management. You've got to watch for hypothermia and keep rotating them," said Mr Maxwell.
Mrs Wihapi believed the harsh weather had something to with the whales beaching themselves.
Project Jonah chief executive Kimberly Muncaster said it could be one of many reasons.
"Quite possibly it was the reason, but with our geography and where we stand in the world with the two oceans around us ... a lot of whales get stranded."
- With NZPA
