Deep-sea whale strands on central Auckland beach

Project Jonah marine mammal medics and Department of Conservation staff respond to the stranding of a Shepherd’s beaked whale at St Heliers. Photo / Project Jonah New Zealand

By RNZ

A whale has stranded on St Heliers Beach in Auckland.

Project Jonah, alongside the Department of Conservation (DoC), responded after a Shepherd’s beaked whale was spotted late this morning.

Spokeswoman Louisa Hawkes said Shepherd’s beaked whales lived in the deep sea, and only came up to shore if something was wrong.

Massey University’s Cetacean Ecology Research Group had done an initial assessment of the whale, but needed to assess it further.

Hawkes said volunteers had put the whale on an inflatable set of pontoons in order to take it back out to deep water, rather than waiting for the tide to come in.

Stranded, injured or dead whales should be reported to the DoC emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).

– RNZ